Canucks host Hawks in pivotal Game 4

Hockey Betting Lines

05/07/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Blackhawks will try to grab a 3-1 series lead in the Western Conference semifinals when they visit the Vancouver Canucks for tonight's pivotal Game 4 battle at General Motors Place.

The second-seeded Blackhawks lost the first game of this best-of-seven series on home ice by a 5-1 score, but rallied for a 4-2 victory in Game 2 and then notched a 5-2 decision in the third meeting this past Wednesday at GM Place.

If the Blackhawks can win their third straight game tonight, they will have a chance at ending this series when the teams meet for Game 5 Sunday night in Chicago.

This series is a rematch of last year's conference semifinals, which Chicago won in six games before losing to Detroit in the West finals. The Blackhawks haven't appeared in consecutive conference finals since 1989 and '90.

Meanwhile, Vancouver will try to rebound tonight and tie the series at two games apiece. The Canucks are 0-4 in the second round of the playoffs since last reaching the conference finals in 1994, when they eventually lost to the New York Rangers in a seven-game battle for the Stanley Cup.

Dustin Byfuglien was the hero for Chicago in Game 3, scoring his first three goals of these playoffs for his first career playoff hat trick. Antti Niemi also made 31 saves to help the Blackhawks skate to the 5-2 victory.

Byfuglien, who matched his career playoff scoring output with the three-goal game, was responsible for both of Chicago's power-play goals and became the first Blackhawk to record a playoff hat trick on the road since Bobby Hull netted three against Pittsburgh in the 1972 Stanley Cup playoffs.

Marian Hossa and Kris Versteeg, who scored the game-winner Monday in Chicago, also tallied for Chicago.

"He played unbelievable. He was everywhere...in the middle of everything," said Hossa of Byfuglien. "He was using his speed and I think got some confidence. He was flying tonight."

Team captain Jonathan Toews recorded three assists for the Blackhawks.

Alex Burrows and Jannik Hansen had the goals for the Canucks and Alex Edler and Sami Salo each picked up two assists in the setback. Roberto Luongo was charged with all five goals on 35 shots and looked shaky in doing so with each of Chicago's scores coming via the rebound.

"That's the way they play. The only way we can answer that is to do the same thing on the other side," Luongo said of the havoc created by the 'Hawks in front of his crease."

The third-seeded Canucks are 2-2 on home ice in the playoffs after posting the best home record in the Western Conference during the regular season with a 30-8-3 mark at GM Place.

Chicago is 3-1 on the road in the postseason and has a solid 23-14-4 record as the visiting team in the regular season.

This marks the fourth time the Canucks and Blackhawks have battled in the postseason. Vancouver's only series victory over Chicago was in the 1982 conference finals, when the Canucks ousted the Blackhawks in five games before getting swept by the New York Islanders in the Stanley Cup Finals.

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Horse Betting

(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).

The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.

"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."

Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.

"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."

When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:

CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.

DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.

PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.

You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.

"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."

Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.

(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)

Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."

But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."

Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."

Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."

All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.

In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.

"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."

To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs.