Sillinger lifts Islanders over Penguins in final seconds

Hockey Betting Lines

02/19/2007 - Uniondale, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mike Sillinger scored with 26.8 seconds to play, as the New York Islanders handed the Pittsburgh Penguins their first loss in regulation in over a month with a 6-5 win at Nassau Coliseum.

With time winding down in the third, Sidney Crosby set up Mark Recchi for a one-timer from the low right side, on which Rick DiPietro made a save.

The Islanders skated back down the ice on transition and, from the top of the right circle, Andy Hilbert sent a pass to Sillinger, who, from the slot, used Mark Eaton as a screen and snapped a shot on net. Marc-Andre Fleury slowed down the puck with his glove, but it retained enough momentum to trickle into the net with 26.8 to play.

Pittsburgh pulled Fleury from the net but was only able to get one shot on net, and the Islanders gave the home crowd a victory.

"It was a big win. Obviously any time you outscore Pittsburgh something is going right," said Sillinger.

Chris Simon scored two goals and Randy Robitaille added three assists for the Islanders, who have won three of their last four contests.

Rick DiPietro stopped 25 shots in the win for New York, which, with 66 points, is in a three-way tie with Toronto and Montreal for the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference.

Ryan Malone notched his second-career hat trick, Mark Recchi had two goals and three assists, and Sidney Crosby added four assists for the Penguins, who lost in regulation for the first time since January 10 and went 14-0-2 during that run.

"I think our mistakes were just big mistakes and the puck ended up in our net," said Crosby.

Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 24 shots for Pittsburgh, which has 73 points and moved into fourth place in the Eastern Conference thanks to the streak.

Pittsburgh broke a 4-4 tie just 48 seconds into the third period when Crosby flicked a shot on net from the right circle on which DiPietro made a save, but the rebound went right to the slot and on his second attempt Malone got the puck into the back of the net for a 5-4 win.

However, the Islanders tied the game a little over a minute later when Robitaille fed a pass from the left point to the top of the right circle and Simon blasted the disc into the left corner of the net.

The Penguins grabbed a 1-0 lead just 45 seconds in when Malone grabbed a loose puck out of the air, laid it on the ice and shot it between the pads of DiPietro.

The Islanders tied the game on the power play when Arron Asham sent a pass from the right boards to the high slot where Viktor Kozlov shot it under the right pad of Fleury with 5:11 left in the first.

However, Pittsburgh scored the next two goals to assume a 3-1 lead.

Shortly after a 5-on-3 advantage expired, Crosby sent a pass between the legs of two defenders from the left side of the net to the right side where Recchi tapped it in with just 49 seconds left in the first.

In the second period Malone tucked in a wraparound attempt from the right side of the net just 49 seconds in. The play was reviewed to see if the puck crossed the goal line, and after a lengthy review the goal was awarded.

New York, though, responded with three goals to grab a 4-3 lead.

Simon scored his first goal in 26 games when he accepted a pass from Robitaille at the inside of the left circle and redirected it into the net 2:03 into the second.

Just 15 seconds later on a delayed call Jason Blake banged an errant shot out of the air and into the net to tie the game.

A little less than six minutes later Kozlov snapped a shot from the right circle that Fleury saved, but Miroslav Satan pounced on the rebound and banged the puck into the net for his 21st goal of the year.

Recchi, though, tied the game when he banged in a loose puck during a 5-on-3 advantage with 1:59 remaining in the second.

Game Notes

Both of Malone's hat tricks have come against the Islanders, with the last one occurring on December 15...The Islanders host the Maple Leafs on Thursday...Pittsburgh travels to Tampa Bay for a contest on Thursday...The Penguins went 2-for-5 on the power play, while New York finished 1- for-3...Marc-Andre Bergeron, who the Islanders acquired on Sunday from the Edmonton Oilers, had two assists in his debut with New York.

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The NFL preseason is approaching. Time for players, coaches and teams to turn over a new leaf. General managers have hired some new coaches, while coaches have added some offensive and defensive assistants to try and improve things. Here’s a look at some changes to look for in the preseason.

New York Jets: The Jets were one of the surprise teams in the NFL last season, making the playoffs under hard-driving first-year coach Eric Mangini. Mangini rebuilt the offensive line with rookies D'Brickashaw Ferguson (the No. 4 pick in the 2007 Draft) and Ohio State center (the 29th pick in the first round). This season he upgraded the defense with rookie linebacker David Harris (Michigan) while the secondary picked up a much needed top-notch corner in Pitt CB Darrelle Revis (No. 14 overall).

The Jets have added balance to the offense for QB Chad Pennington with RB Thomas Jones, essentially stolen from the Bears. He will upgrade a New York ground game that was 20th in rushing with a weak 3.5 yards per carry. They have their first true feature back since Curtis Martin. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer prefers ball control, like his father Marty. In preseason, behind Pennington you’ll see second-year QB Kellen Clemens and mobile newcomer QB Marques Tuiasosopo.

Jacksonville Jaguars: The heat is on Jack Del Rio in Jacksonville as the Jaguars flopped last season despite a ton of talent. Keep in mind that under Del Rio the Jaguars have been outstanding in preseason with a 12-4 SU, 11-5 ATS August mark. online football betting Their defense is loaded, it’s the offense that has been stuck in first gear the last few years.

Enter a new offensive coordinator in Dirk Koetter, the former Boise State and Arizona State pass-happy coach. He will try and upgrade a passing game that ranked 24th last season. Del Rio has criticized wide receivers and Matt Jones this summer, both of whom have battled injuries. It will be interesting to watch the “new” Jaguars passing game in preseason.

Arizona Cardinals: Word out of Arizona is that the players like new coach Ken Whisenhunt, who was the Steelers offensive coordinator last year. We think of Arizona as all-passing because their running game has been awful of late because of a poor offensive line. However, keep an eye on the running game in preseason as they’ve made a lot of changes.

The new coach brings in Russ Grimm to coach the offensive line (Grimm did a marvelous job building the Steelers line). They took Penn State OT Levi Jones in the first round and signed two offensive linemen, Mike Gandy and Al Johnson, to provide depth. Reggie Wells was moved from right tackle to left guard and they want more speed out of the offensive line for pulling and traps, a Pittsburgh staple under Bill Cowher.

Atlanta Falcons: While all the attention has been focused on QB Mike Vick’s off-field problems, new coach Bobby Petrino is revamping the Falcons from an all-running team to a more balanced one. Petrino likes the experience of backup QB Joey Harrington and he has veteran backup Chris Redman, who used to play for Petrino at Louisville and knows his offenses better than anyone. Petrino wants Vick to be more of a pocket passer.

The addition of FB Ovie Mughelli is a sign Petrino wants a power rushing attack behind a physical fullback and newcomer WR Joe Horn should upgrade what was a below average wideout corps. Petrino is changing their old zone-blocking scheme to a more traditional in-line blocking scheme and the offensive line is bigger. Rookie DE Jamaal Anderson was grabbed in the first round and the secondary got younger with former Auburn cornerback David Irons, who the Falcons think was a steal as a sixth-round pick.

Cleveland Browns: The 2007 Browns look like a double-edged sword. There was the excitement of the offseason, trading for RB Jamel Lewis, upgrading the offensive line with Wisconsin’s Joe Thomas (the No. 2 pick in the draft) and free agent LG Eric Steinbach, then trading for Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn when he fell to No. 22. GM Phil Savage and head coach Romeo Crennel feel they have a talented, balanced offense with these new pieces, plus TE >Kellen Winslow and WR Braylon Edwards.

However, were these moves made in desperation? And were they foolish ones? The Browns gave up their 2008 first-round pick for Quinn and we all know QBs take time to develop. And even first-round QBs can be busts (Joey Harrington, Akili Smith). We also don’t know if the offensive line is that much improved (31st in rushing in 2007) and they did nothing to improve a defense that was awful against the run (142 yds pg allowed).

The Browns have a new offensive coordinator in Rob Chudzinski. This is a young offense and Quinn looked tentative, indecisive and inaccurate early in camp. Crennel will play Charlie Frye, Quinn and Derek Anderson in preseason. And there is a mixed bag for rookie QBs receiving significant starts: Tim Couch (14), Kerry Collins (13), Ben Roethlisberger (13), Vince Young (13), Joey Harrington (12), Matt Leinart (11) and Kyle Boller (nine). While all the focus will be on the Browns new-look offense, I’m more concerned with the defense.

Carolina Panthers: Coach Jon Fox loves the ground game, but Carolina has made some interesting changes for 2007. Fox fired offensive coordinator Dan Henning and brings in Jeff Davidson to run the offense. Davidson has brought in zone-blocking schemes to the Panther offense, a dramatic change for a system that's been built around a power-running style.

In zone-blocking, offensive linemen are responsible for blocking any defender who appears in their zone, instead of focusing on one defender. The Broncos and Falcons have had success with the system, which features smaller, more athletic offensive linemen and can create running lanes on the inside and outside. Keep an eye in preseason on how Carolina adjusts as it will take time to learn the system. Fox has been one of the top coaches in preseason, with a 15-5 SU, 12-7-1 ATS August record.

Dallas Cowboys: WR Terrell Owens is still here, but QB Drew Bledsoe and Bill Parcells are gone. New head coach Wade Phillips takes over, replacing Parcells. He ran the Chargers defense last season. Phillips was chosen by teary-eyed owner Jerry Jones partly because he is one of the best 3-4 coaches in football and the Cowboys have loaded up on players for that scheme.

Remember that Phillips was blitz-happy with the Chargers last season and early reports out of the Dallas camp have mentioned how the Cowboys have been blitzing a lot, a departure from Parcells. The theme of the 2007 Dallas defense appears to be one of attack.

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In what should be an outstanding Saturday of March Madness betting action, the top four teams in the South and West Regions square off in what should be extremely close match-ups. Three of the four teams are coming off extremely close games on Thursday evening, only UCLA won semi comfortably over Pitt 64-55.

Ohio State is coming off their second game in a row where in all reality they should have lost. Of course that doesn’t matter now since the name of the game is “survive and advance” but as the tournament continues, they can’t afford to keep getting down to their opponents early. Kansas also avoided a scare by holding off a scrappy Southern Illinois squad. In the third thrilling game of the evening Memphis pulled off the minor upset (+3.5) despite being the higher seed to Texas A&M.

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Memphis vs. Ohio State

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UCLA vs. Kansas

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