Aiming for first three-game win streak, Stars host Sharks

Hockey Betting Lines

12/29/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Dallas Stars will get another chance at their first three-game winning streak of the season when they host the mighty San Jose Sharks for tonight's Pacific Division clash at American Airlines Center.

In addition to winning back-to-back games, the Stars have been victorious in four of their last five contests. Dallas has also recorded at least a point in five straight games, going 4-0-1 over that stretch.

The Sharks, meanwhile, are tied for the NHL lead with 58 points and are 23 points ahead of Dallas for first place in the Pacific.

San Jose is 2-0 against the Stars this year and won the last meeting by a 6-2 score when they rolled to a win in Dallas on November 28. The Sharks have won three of four and five of the last eight encounters between the clubs and have also taken five of six in Dallas.

However, the Stars did get the better of San Jose in the playoffs last year as Dallas eliminated the Sharks in six games during the Western Conference semifinals.

The Stars earned their most-recent victory over another Pacific rival, posting Saturday's overtime victory against visiting Anaheim. Mike Modano ripped a one-timer past Jean-Sebastien Giguere with 1:26 remaining in OT to give Dallas the 4-3 decision over the Ducks.

Mike Ribeiro recorded a goal and two assists, while James Neal and Brad Richards each scored and added a helper for Dallas, which was coming off an 8-2 victory over Toronto. Marty Turco was shaky in net, but made 19 saves to pick up the win.

Richards and Ribeiro each extended point streaks to five games with the former notching four goals and six assists during the run and the latter posting two goals and seven helpers.

Saturday's win marked the opener of a three-game homestand for the Stars, who are 8-5-3 as the host this year. Dallas will complete the residency against New Jersey on New Year's Eve.

The Sharks had a two-game winning streak halted their last time out, as they dropped a shootout decision Saturday in St. Louis. Brad Winchester scored the equalizer in the third period and tallied the game-winner in the shootout, as the Blues edged San Jose, 3-2, notching their first win over the Sharks since the 2006-07 season.

San Jose last lost to the Blues on January 20, 2007 and had beaten St. Louis seven straight times prior to Saturday's setback. The Sharks also had won seven in a row in the Gateway City.

Jonathan Cheechoo and Mike Grier each had a goal and an assist for the Sharks. Joe Thornton added a pair of helpers for San Jose, while Evgeni Nabokov made 26 saves.

The Sharks are playing the middle segment of a three-game road trip that will end New Year's Eve at Minnesota. San Jose has lost three straight as the visiting team and is sporting a 9-4-2 road record this season.

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Mayweather picked to beat De La Hoya
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA -- Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya and his rival Floyd Mayweather Jr. arrived at the MGM Grand here Wednesday amid the pomp and pandemonium befitting two of the biggest stars in the sport who are about to duke it out for the WBC super welterweight crown this Saturday (Sunday in Manila).

As of Wednesday, MySportsbook.com closed its book with Mayweather a favorite to defeat De La Hoya at -170 (a $100 bet wins $70), while De La Hoya is a +140 underdog (a $100 bet wins $140).

Mayweather arrived at about 11:30 a.m. on a big truck with his face and a big "World's Best Pound-for-Pound" sign scribbled across the vehicle. He was accompanied by his entourage made up of rappers and his training team.

A crowd of close to 3,000 eager fans packed the MGM Grand lobby, with their cameras in tow, all trying to vie for position to get a good angle at Mayweather, who is acknowledged as the world's best fighter pound-for-pound.

Eric Gomez, Golden Boy Promotions vice-president, described the fan turnout as "amazing" and swore he had never seen anything quite like this event.

"The crowd was fantastic. Everybody was just too eager to see the two fighters," said ALA manager Michael Aldeguer, who was among those who waited at the lobby together with his ward Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista and AJ Banal.

De La Hoya made his own grand entrance at the hotel lobby at around 12:30 p.m. accompanied by GBP chief executive officer Richard Schaefer and trainer Freddie Roach.

The same group of fans who trooped to see Mayweather also lingered around to get a close look at De La Hoya, who has been secretly working out at a Las Vegas gym for days after arriving from his main training camp in Puerto Rico.

The golden boy then took part in a closed-door afternoon workout with Bautista and Banal. The two, along with Aldeguer and wife Christine, as well as an HBO crew were the only ones allowed inside the gym.

De La Hoya and Mayweather take part in today's final press conference before the official weigh-in this Friday.

Ring Magazine, the acknowledged bible of boxing, reported in its June 2007 issue that 12 out of 20 boxing experts it interviewed have favored Mayweather to defeat De la Hoya, with only 8 favoring the latter.

But Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao said in a recent interview with The Freeman's Emmanuel Villaruel that De La Hoya will win by unanimous decision over Mayweather.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on boxing needs.