Red Wings aim to set new NHL home mark vs. Stars

Hockey Betting Lines

02/14/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Red Wings will try to set a new NHL record for the longest home winning streak in league history when they host the Dallas Stars tonight at Joe Louis Arena.

Detroit matched a league standard with its 20th consecutive home win Sunday night against Philadelphia. The 4-3 regulation decision moved the Red Wings into a tie with the 1975-76 Flyers and 1929-30 Boston Bruins for the longest- ever home winning streaks and the Red Wings hope to have the record all to themselves after tonight.

The Red Wings haven't lost in the Motor City since a 4-1 setback against Calgary on Nov. 3 and Detroit is boasting a stellar 23-2-1 record at the Joe this season. The strong home play has helped offset a 15-15-1 road mark and is also a big reason Detroit is leading the Central Division, Western Conference and NHL with 78 points.

Detroit will also be trying to sweep the season series against the Stars after going 3-0 against Dallas so far in 2011-12. The Stars have won four of their last six games in Motown, but the Wings notched a 5-2 victory when the teams last met at the Joe on Nov. 12.

Johan Franzen scored 52 seconds into the third period on Sunday to break a 3-3 tie against the Flyers and the Red Wings were able to hold on for the win. Niklas Kronwall, Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg also scored for the Red Wings, who are 3-0 at the start of a six-game homestand.

"It's been something special. Looking back, we've had some great teams over the last 20 years, but none that have been close to this record," said captain Nicklas Lidstrom, who played his 1,550th game -- all with Detroit. "So we should take a lot of pride in it."

Joey MacDonald had 26 saves in the latest victory, including 10 in the third period to keep the Flyers off the board. With regular No. 1 netminder Jimmy Howard sidelined with a broken finger, MacDonald has started the last four games for Detroit.

Howard suffered his finger injury on Feb. 2 and was originally expected to miss four-to-six weeks of action. That timeline has since changed dramatically and Howard could return to the crease as early as Friday's home test against Nashville.

In other injury news for Detroit, forward Danny Cleary is expected to miss a third straight game tonight with a lower-body issue.

The Stars are fighting desperately to stay afloat in the Western Conference playoff race, but losses in two straight and three of their last four games have not helped that cause. Dallas enters tonight as the 11th seed in the West and is four points behind the conference's final postseason berth.

After getting dealt a shootout loss Friday in Buffalo, the Stars returned to Texas and were handed Sunday's regulation loss by the Los Angeles Kings. LA scored the game's first two goals, but Dallas rallied to tie it at 2-2 by the early stages of the third period. The Kings, however, used the first goal of Jordan Nolan's NHL career and an empty-netter from Justin Williams to secure the win.

Loui Eriksson and Michael Ryder scored for the Stars, while Kari Lehtonen allowed three goals on just 15 shots in defeat.

"We didn't start well, that's for sure," Stars head coach Glen Gulutzan said. "We gave them a goal early and had to press from behind. We obviously weren't ready to play in the beginning."

Dallas is 13-13-1 as the road team this year and has lost four of its last six away from the Lone Star State.

Stars defenseman Sheldon Souray has missed the last two games with a foot injury and he is questionable for tonight. Dallas captain Brenden Morrow (neck/back) is still on injured reserve and sidelined indefinitely.

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Pro Football Odds : NFC SOUTH BETTING ODDS

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NFL betting action is back! At MySportsbook, all of the pro football odds are posted for the NFC North. Check out how we see the four teams in this cloudy division stacking up this year in the chase for the playoffs! Green Bay Packers (+125) - With QB Aaron Rodgers leading the offense and DC Dom Capers working his magic on defense, the Packers are a real force to be reckoned with.

Virtually nothing changed on this offense for Green Bay from last year to this year, save for the addition of rookie OT Brian Bulaga to the bunch. Expect more huge numbers from the Pack, and a relatively favorable schedule should get them over the hump and into the playoffs once again this season. My NFL Betting Predictions: 11-5, 1st place in NFC North Minnesota Vikings (+130) - There are still too many unknowns about the Vikes this year. There is a huge difference between QB Brett Favre and either Tarvaris Jackson or Sage Rosenfels under center. Plus, is Favre comes back, is he really going to be able to keep his pick total under double digits again? Depth at running back looked like it might have been an issue with RB Chester Taylor fleeing in free agency, but drafting RB Toby Gerhart should pick up the difference. This defense is still suitable, but with a first place schedule, making the playoffs is going to be very tough regardless of whether #4 comes back or not.

There is a huge difference between QB Brett Favre and either Tarvaris Jackson or Sage Rosenfels under center. Plus, is Favre comes back, is he really going to be able to keep his pick total under double digits again? Depth at running back looked like it might have been an issue with RB Chester Taylor fleeing in free agency, but drafting RB Toby Gerhart should pick up the difference. This defense is still suitable, but with a first place schedule, making the playoffs is going to be very tough regardless of whether #4 comes back or not. Play this weekly NFL Football Contestto see if you can win.

Chicago Bears (+350) - The Bears are probably a bit of an overhyped team once again this year.No, we don't think it is plausible for QB Jay Cutler to have as bad of a season as he did last year, and we do think the additions of RB Chester Taylor and DE Julius Peppers are going to help immensely, but there's still something in the water in the Windy City that we aren't so sure about. Maybe Chicago finds its way to .500... but then again, maybe it doesn't. If Favre comes back, Cutler might be the worst quarterback in this division this year.

Detroit Lions (+1500) - The Lions are probably once again going to be the whipping boys for the rest of the teams in the NFC North, but they aren't just going to roll over and die once again. There is some real talent amassing on this team offensively, as the combination of QB Matt Stafford, RB Jahvid Best, WR Calvin Johnson, and TE Brandon Pettigrew should put a bunch of points on the board if the offensive line can even remotely hold up. The questions really lie on defense, where it feels like DT Ndamukong Suh is going to be trying to stop opposing teams all by himself. This year should show some marked improvement in the Motor City.

The Patriots will make NFL betting fans a lot of money this season, get in early and enjoy the cash.

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