Avs shoot for season sweep of Kings

Hockey Betting Lines

02/22/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Last night, the Kings found the offense they have been so sorely lacking but it still resulted in a third straight loss.

Los Angeles looks to rebound this evening and avoid a season series sweep at the hands of the hosting Colorado Avalanche.

The Kings' struggles with scoring have been well documented this season, with the club ranking dead last in the NHL with 124 goals. They have been shut out eight times on the season, including consecutive 1-0 setbacks going into last night's meeting at Phoenix.

Los Angeles looked to have blasted out of its funk after getting goals from Drew Doughty, Andrei Loktionov and Dustin Brown in the game's first 15 minutes, but some poor discipline ultimately resulted in a 5-4 shootout loss.

The Kings, who also got a goal from Justin Williams, allowed a pair of power- play goals early in the second and also saw Phoenix net the game-tying goal while up a man after winger Kyle Clifford was whistled for a game misconduct for a shot to the head of the Coyotes' Gilbert Brule.

Brown tied the shootout in the second round, but Mikkel Boedker responded by beating Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick and Jack Johnson missed the net as the final skater.

Quick ended with 25 saves as the Kings lost for the fifth time in six games.

"When you give up three power-play goals on the road, you're going to have a tough time winning," Kings head coach Daryl Sutter said.

Though Los Angeles will be trying to avoid its longest losing streak since a five-game skid from Dec. 3-13, the point earned last night did give it sole possession of eighth place in the Western Conference. The Kings moved one ahead of the Flames, while the Avalanche sit four back of the final playoff position.

Colorado can close the gap this evening with its first season series sweep of Los Angeles since relocating from Quebec. The Avalanche had lost seven of eight to the Kings, including getting swept in the four-game series last year, before outscoring Los Angeles 8-4 in the three meetings this year.

The Avs snapped a three-game home losing streak to the Kings with a 3-2 win back on Oct. 30 and should have a bit of a tougher edge tonight after acquiring forward Steve Downie from the Lightning on Tuesday for defenseman Kyle Quincey.

Downie had 12 goals, 28 points and 121 penalty minutes in 55 games with Tampa Bay this year and logged 14 points in 17 playoff games last season in the Lightning's march to the Eastern Conference finals.

"Our organization believes that Steve Downie will add grit and skill to our lineup offensively," said Avalanche general manager and executive vice president Greg Sherman. "He plays the game with an edge and we look forward to seeing the immediate and future impact he can bring to our team."

Colorado made the move days after a 5-1 loss in Winnipeg, its third loss in four games.

"Overall, we just weren't good enough tonight in all areas of the game. I don't think we had everybody here on deck tonight," Avalanche head coach Joe Sacco said.

Gabriel Landeskog lit the lamp for Colorado and Semyon Varlamov allowed all five goals on 25 shots to take the loss.

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American Idol odds : Blake Lewis the Early Standout

An important American Idol betting lines recap from February 20 Guys episode. The 12 men came out flat overall with Blake Lewis appearing to have the early edge after the first hour and a half.

Rudy - was quite good singing "Free Ride" to start off.  Randy was not impressed though.  Paula thought he started off fantastic.  "Never had anyone stop off so lively" said Paula but Simon (who does not like Rudy) does not feel he has a distinct voice and was not impressed either. 

Brandon was a little pitchy according to Randy and Paula agreed.  Simon said he was a good singer but the song was "too safe" and he needs to make an impact.  He was listed at +1200 odds or $1200 paid out on a $100 bet should he win the competition. 

Big favorite Sundance came in with a flat version of "Knights in White Satin" and the judges let him have it, including Paula.  Randy claimed the song was out of pitch throughout.

Korean American - and a Jenny Woo favorite - Paul Kim was up next.  Another pitchy flat one but Randy said he still liked his potential.  Kim at +3000 odds was said to have sung a "third rate version of that (George Michael) song" according to Simon Cowell.  He sang "Careless Whisper".

22 year old Chris Richardson was up next.  He was listed with +1100 odds coming in.  He got the best response from the judges though Simon did not believe the vocal was that great. 

Nick was boring and pitchy.  Simon didn't think he was that bad though and predicted he would be back next week.  Nick Pedro was a big +3000 dog coming into this competition. 

Beat boxer Blake Lewis was listed with early +1000 odds or $1000 payout on a $100 bet if he were to become the next American Idol winner odds .  These of course were the early odds.  He was considered original for picking an "odd song".  He did not beat box and the judges felt it was the best vocal of the night. 

Sanjaya came in as the second biggest favorite after Chris Sligh but his performance Tuesday night was not very good. 

Chris Sleigh was the early favorite at +450 odds.  Great voice and a great sense of humor.  He's a real standout.  Randy felt it was on point but maybe ahead of the chorus a little bit.  Simon Cowell said he felt like he was in some "sort of weird student gig". 

Jared Cotter followed.  He was listed with +2000 odds early on to win the competition.  The judges felt he needs to take more risks but looked good. 

22-year old AJ Talbado, who has tried out for American Idol five times, was up next.  "Kind of a theme park performance" said Simon.  Though the judges felt he performed okay.  Simon did feel AJ might be better than he originally thought.

Phil - this season's military favorite - came into this competition with +1200 odds to win the competition.  He was the last to perform.  He was certainly strong enough to get through this stage of the competition and perhaps the best one after a shaky start. 

Tomorrow night, the ladies perform and I sure hope they do a better job than the boys.  Check out all the American Idol betting odds here.

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