Nash, Blue Jackets edge Rangers

Hockey Betting Lines

02/25/2007 - New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rick Nash scored the go-ahead goal in the second period, and the Columbus Blue Jackets erased a two-goal deficit with a pair of short-handed tallies, defeating the New York Rangers, 3-2, at Madison Square Garden.

Anders Eriksson and Jason Chimera both tallied for the Blue Jackets, who won for just the third time in their last 11 games while snapping a three-game slide. Fredrik Norrena was strong between the pipes, finishing with 40 saves for Columbus.

Blair Betts and Jaromir Jagr both scored and Henrik Lundqvist finished with 22 saves for the Rangers, who were playing their second game in a season-high six-game homestand. The Blueshirts have struggled in their quest for a postseason berth, dropping a pair of heartbreaking losses to the New Jersey Devils in a home-and-home series this past week, and four of their last five games overall.

The Rangers grabbed the early lead, punching through with their fourth shot on goal to make it 1-0. On a delayed penalty call, Betts took a pass from Ryan Hollweg and moved behind the net from Norrena's right to left, before stuffing the puck past the netminder on a wrap-around attempt at 2:46.

A little more than two minutes later New York struck again to make it 2-0, this time on the power play. With Columbus' Aaron Johnson off for interference, Jagr rifled a slap shot from the top of the right circle past Norrena at 5:11 for his 22nd goal of the season.

Eriksson got Columbus on the board, deflecting the puck past Lundqvist to make it a 2-1 game. David Vyborny had almost nothing on the initial shot, which he wristed from above the right circle. The disc went through heavy traffic, however, deflecting off two players, the last being Eriksson, before it skipped past the netminder with 1:24 remaining in the first period.

A pair of short-handed tallies gave Columbus a 3-2 lead in the second period.

After a takeaway by Fredrik Modin, Chimera gathered the puck in his own zone, then went through neutral zone unimpeded while moving along the left boards. Just a few strides over the blue line, Chimera unleashed a wrist shot that beat Lundqvist at 11:02 to square the game at 2-2.

Nash then gave his team a 3-2 lead while Eriksson was off for hooking. The shot, which was nearly identical to Chimera's, came off the left side and beat Lundqvist with 4:06 remaining in the middle stanza.

The third period belonged to New York, except where the scoreboard was concerned. The Blueshirts dominated in shots on goal, 17-4, but could not solve Norrena down the stretch.

A hooking infraction against Michal Rozsival, which came with just 42 seconds remaining in the contest, let the Rangers short-handed and dampened any hopes of a game-tying tally.

Game Notes

It was Chimera's second unassisted short-handed goal of the season. The first one came December 18th against Detroit...The Blue Jackets have won five of their last six meetings with the Rangers overall, and are 1-1 with one tie all-time at Madison Square Garden, where they had not played since a 5-3 loss December 3, 2002...New York was 1-for-5 on the power play, while Columbus finished 0-for-2...The Rangers needed a win to move within four points of the top eight teams in the Eastern Conference.

Wwraceo Hockey Betting News

<< No. 10 Arizona State gets by Arizona
Tucson, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Emily Westerberg and Aubree Johnson each scored 16 points, as 10th-ranked Arizona State survived Arizona, 59-54. Westerberg also had five rebounds and Jill Noe added nine points for the Sun Devils (26-3, 16-2

<< Williams leads 'Canes past Thrashers
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Justin Williams scored two goals and John Grahame made 28 save to give the Carolina Hurricanes a 4-1 win over the Atlanta Thrashers in a Southeast Division battle at Philips Arena. Ray Whitney had

<< Venus Williams downs Peer in Memphis final
Memphis, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In her comeback week on the WTA Tour, American Venus Williams easily defeated top-seeded Israeli Shahar Peer to win the title at the $175,000 Regions Morgan Keegan Championships and Cellular South Cup. In the

<< Seniors Givens and Horton lead Blue Raiders over Owls
Murfreesboro, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chrissy Givens scored 31 points and Krystle Horton added 27 as No. 17 Middle Tennessee downed Florida Atlantic, 76-63, at the Murphy Center. Starr Orr pitched in with seven points and nine rebou

<< Auburn downs No. 25 Alabama
Tuscaloosa, AL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Korvotney Barber and Quan Prowell each scored 17 points, and Barber added 10 rebounds to lead Auburn over 25th-ranked Alabama, 86-77, at Coleman Coliseum. Frank Tolbert chipped in with 12 points for Au

Raptors down Bobcats; Okafor, Wallace injured >>
Charlotte, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chris Bosh scored all of his 24 points in the second half and grabbed 11 boards as the Toronto Raptors bested the injury-striken Charlotte Bobcats, 93-76, at Charlotte Bobcats Arena. The Bobcats l

Gratton, Panthers pound Bruins >>
Sunrise, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chris Gratton scored twice and added an assist, to lead the Florida Panthers to a 7-2 pounding of the Boston Bruins at BankAtlantic Center. Stephen Weiss had a goal and two assists for the Panthers,

Toronto knocks off dreadful Philly >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jeff O'Neill and Alex Steen both had a goal and an assist, as the Toronto Maple Leafs got back on the winning track with a 5-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers at the Wachovia Center. Chad Kilger, M

Kenseth wins another one for Roush >>
Fontana, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Matt Kenseth outlasted Casey Mears to capture Saturday's Stater Bros. 300 Busch Series race at the California Speedway. The No.17 Jack Roush Ford crossed the finish line 0.896 seconds ahead of Mears for Roush R

Parker, Spurs blitz SuperSonics >>
San Antonio, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tony Parker scored 21 points as San Antonio blitzed Seattle, 102-71, at the AT&T Center. Robert Horry added 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting off the bench for the streaking Spurs, who won their fift

Credit Card Betting: Sportsbook accepts U.S. credit cards

Online Sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard

MySportsbook.com is the best at processing US credit cards for deposits. Welcome to the most player friendly online sportsbook on the planet!

The principals behind MySportsbook are obviously a management group that understands the players needs as evidenced by their commitment to provide easy depositing with their high credit card acceptance rate and free weekly $10 bets they offer to clients with active betting accounts.

The perks don't end there! MySportsbook offers casino, poker and horses as well. Twice named Best Sportsbook by eGaming Review, this place is rock solid financially so you don't ever have to sweat the payout as you may with some other online bookies operating with less betting volume and client base.

Sign up today and grab your share of a 10% bonus that is added instantly to your betting account. Enjoy 52 risk free bets throughout the year as well!

Reasons to Play There: You have to see their no hitter, cycle hitter and slaughter rule promos for baseball. Worth a laugh and probably a few bucks throughout the MLB season. They offer supersized bonuses of 15% if you up your minimum deposit to $500 or more. Lay -105 on Friday NBA! Contests during the NFL football season!