1. NHL: Anaheim at San Jose (Thursday, 10:30 p.m.)<\/h3>\n
This is about as hot a 1-8 matchup as you could hope for in the NHL playoffs – all due respect to the Montreal-Boston series, but both the Ducks (10-2-1 in their last 13) and Sharks (10-4-1) are pulling more action that either of their Eastern Conference counterparts. This is also the first time that two California clubs have met in the playoffs since 1969 Kings-Seals series. The Sharks won four of the six games these two teams played during the regular season; they split a home-and-home last week with the away team cashing in both times.<\/p>\n
2. NBA: Utah at L.A. Lakers (Tuesday, 10:30 p.m.)<\/h3>\n
The Lakers (64-17 SU, 42-39 ATS) locked up the top seed in the Western Conference back in the Bronze Age, and they’ve picked up their game over the past week or so at 5-1 SU and 4-2 ATS. The return of center Andrew Bynum has been just the tonic the Lakers needed to shake off their malaise; Bynum has been good for about 16 points and six rebounds while playing solid defense in each of his three games since missing more than two months with a torn MCL. The Jazz (47-33 SU, 38-42 ATS) have a lot more at stake on Tuesday as they try to retake seventh place in the West from Dallas, thus avoiding a first-round series with the Lakers. Utah got itself into this mess by going 3-7 SU and 1-9 ATS during the past 10 contests.<\/p>\n
3. NHL: St. Louis at Vancouver (Wednesday, 10:00 p.m.)<\/h3>\n
Both the Blues (9-1-1 in their last 11 games) and Canucks (11-4-1 over the past month) have ridden hot streaks into the hearts of hockey bettors. Premium goaltending is the key; St. Louis turned its season around by replacing Manny Legace (.885 save percentage) with Chris Mason (.915 SV%), and the Canucks have one of the greatest netminders in the world in Roberto Luongo (.920 SV%).\u00a0<\/p>\n
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The Blues have the better special teams in this matchup, but Vancouver is superior in just about every other department and has a plus-26 goal differential on the season. St. Louis is dead even in goals for and against. The Canucks are also carrying 12-1 odds to win the Stanley Cup compared to 50-1 for the Blues.<\/p>\n
4. MLB: St. Louis at Chicago Cubs (Sunday, 8:05 p.m.)<\/h3>\n
ESPN’s popular Sunday Night Baseball broadcast gets an extra bump this week with one of the classic rivalries in baseball: the I-55 series between the Cubs and Cardinals. Sunday’s matchup is the last of a four-game series at Wrigley Field; if the rotations hold, we have a big-name pitching duel between St. Louis ace Chris Carpenter and Chicago lefty Ted Lilly. Carpenter has allowed zero earned runs over seven innings this year, while Lilly got a dubious win over the Astros despite being rocked for four home runs in five innings. OF Milton Bradley (leg) and C Geovany Soto (shoulder) are both day-to-day for the Cubs.<\/p>\n
5. MMA: Chuck Liddell vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (Saturday, PPV at 10:00 p.m.)<\/h3>\n
The main event at UFC 97 in Montreal is Anderson Silva (-600) versus Thales Leites for the Middleweight title. The top bout on the undercard carries significantly more intrigue. Both Liddell (-200) and Rua (+160) have had their troubles in the Octagon of late; Liddell has lost three of his last four fights, while Rua fell to Forrest Griffin in his UFC debut before getting some of his shine back in January’s win over 44-year-old Mark Coleman – the original UFC Heavyweight champion. Liddell’s career path is the more troubling of the two at these odds.<\/p>\n
Honorable Mentions<\/h3>\n
NBA: Houston at Dallas (Wednesday, 8:00 p.m.)
\nMLB: Cleveland at N.Y. Yankees (Friday, 4:10 p.m.)
\nNHL: Montreal at Boston (Thursday, 7:00 p.m.)
\nSoccer: Liverpool at Chelsea (Champions League, Tuesday, 2:45 p.m.)
\nNASCAR: Subway Fresh Fit 500 (Saturday, 8:00 p.m.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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