'Canes resume swing in Minnesota

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12/23/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Carolina Hurricanes continue their four-game road trip with a stop in Minnesota, where they will take on the Wild tonight at Xcel Energy Center.

Carolina began the swing with a loss in Boston on Saturday and then allowed Montreal to net the game-tying goal the following night with 6:52 remaining in the third period.

However, Tuomo Ruutu made sure that the Hurricanes left town with two points, as he completed a wrap-around attempt in overtime by poking the puck past Carey Price 1:43 into the extra frame for a 3-2 victory.

Eric Staal posted a goal and two helpers while Sergei Samsonov added a goal and one assist for the Hurricanes, who have won three of their last four. They also snapped a three-game winless streak on the road (0-1-2) and improved to 7-5-4 overall this year as the visiting team.

Cam Ward made 26 stops for his 11th win of the season and helped pull Carolina to within six points of first-place Washington in the Southeast Division. Ward is 1-0-0 in two career starts versus the Wild despite allowing five goals on 36 total shots faced.

The Hurricanes wrap their road trip in Atlanta on Friday.

Carolina takes on a Minnesota team tonight that is just 2-7-1 in December. The Wild are coming off their seventh loss in the past eight games, a 4-2 setback in St. Louis on Saturday.

Nick Schultz and Pierre-Marc Bouchard had the goals for Minnesota, with Andrew Brunette, Mikko Koivu and Antti Miettinen adding assists. It was Koivu's team- leading 22nd assist and 33rd point of the season. He is also tops on the club with 11 goals.

Niklas Backstrom gave up three goals on 23 shots in defeat. He has made just one career start versus Carolina, stopping 22-of-26 shots faced for the win.

On the injury front, Marc-Andre Bergeron is battling a lower-body injury and is questionable for tonight, as is Eric Belanger due to illness.

Minnesota is 9-6-2 as the host team this year.

The Hurricanes are 4-2 with a tie in eight all-time meetings with the Wild, going 1-2 with a tie in Minnesota.

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FOOTBALL BETTING

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After all the trouble that’s ensued since Braylon Edwards allegedly punched one of LeBron James’ homeboys in the face at a club, the Cleveland Browns have sent away their last remaining player of worth to the New York Jets. This is a great move for Dirty Sanchez and all, but it’s even better for the Knicks. Now Donnie Walsh can say, “You get to haunt Braylon Edwards with your posse if you sign here!” next summer.

Putting that aside for a moment, the move is a clear indication that the new-look Jets are gunning for the Super Bowl this year. I don’t think that New York thought that Dirty Sanchez was going to be such a rock star. With a 75.2 passer rating that was killed against the Jets, Sanchez is doing an admirable job of managing games and putting the Jets in a position to win. The defense has been the major story in New York thus far, but the acquisition of Braylon Edwards makes this offense loaded with talent that can dent any defense…as long as Dirty Sanchez continues his meteoric rise.

Thus far, Edwards has been a non-factor in the NFL piling up just 139 receiving yards on 10 catches. He has yet to find the endzone, and with the Browns mired in the most unsexy quarterback controversy of all time (Anderson vs. Quinn...yawn), there going nowhere fast. Edwards is two seasons removed from a career year which saw him catch 80 passes for 1,289 yards and 16 touchdowns when the Browns were the spread killing monsters of 2007. In 2008, injuries slowed the receiver down to just 873 yards and three touchdowns though he played in all 16 games.

So that being said, we really don’t know if Braylon Edwards is just a flash in the pan, or a legit threat. At 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds, he is a prototypical receiver. But he’s also shown a strange, and unwarranted, talent for dropping passes. Lining up opposite Jericho Cotchery, a speed demon with 23 catches, 356 yards and a single touchdown, may give Braylon the open looks he needs. A change of scenery may also rejuvenate the star receiver.

In return, the Browns will receive Chansi Stuckey, online football betting a special teams player you’ve never heard of and a pair of draft picks. That’s a tall order for a guy whose only real value right now is in his name, and it shows no promise to the Browns that they can rebuild around those acquisitions. Braylon was the only reason to hope for the Browns to go 3-14 SU this year. Without him, they don’t have a single guy on offense that can scare any team.

For the Jets, it’s a response to the pounding that they took at the hand of the Saints. Thomas Jones and Leon Washington have averaged around 4.0 yards per carry each on the ground, but striking a fair balance between the passing and rushing attacks in New York has been a struggle. You have to believe that the trio of Dustin Keller, Jericho Cotchery and Braylon Edwards will give Sanchez the weapons he needs to unleash through the air. Theoretically, that would open up holes for the rushing game. But the proposed public option health care plan works in theory too. We need to see the proof in the pudding before we start loading up mega bucks on the New York Jets to take the AFC.

The one wrinkle in this whole thing is that Braylon could very well be suspended by the league for disciplinary action due to his “brawl” with LeBron’s friend. If that’s the case, the Jets may have to bench him for a few games leaving them with a somewhat depleted receiving corps for a few games. Also, this is a guy who gets in fights with people at clubs. New York may not be the best place for him. Just sayin’.

The Jets have a long week before they meet the Miami Dolphins on Monday Night Football Betting in a virtual pick ‘em game. Braylon’s excess baggage may be a distraction, and his curiously low production may be what we should be expecting of him overall, but for the Jets, taking a chance to strike gold is well worth it. At the end of the year, they can simply just blame it on their rookie quarterback.

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