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04/09/2009 - Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Joel Ward scored the equalizer with 59.3 seconds left in regulation and Jason Arnott had the deciding goal in the shootout, as Nashville stayed in the playoff race with a key 4-3 win over Detroit.
With the win, the Predators pulled into a tie with Anaheim and St. Louis with 88 points, as all three teams are in position for the final two playoff spots. The Ducks are currently in the seventh position and the Blues are in eighth, but both were idle Thursday and have a game at hand over Nashville.
Nevertheless, the comeback win was a big one for Nashville, which won the season series against Detroit for the first time in franchise history. The Predators took four of six games from the Red Wings this season, including three in a row -- the last two at Detroit.
Arnott finished with a goal and assist for the Predators, who have won two of three, with both victories coming in a shootout. Scott Nichol also lit the lamp, while Pekka Rinne made 23 saves.
Nicklas Lidstrom, Niklas Kronwall and Johan Franzen had the goals for Detroit, which had won two in a row. The Red Wings got a point in the loss, but at 112 total are no longer in contention for the top seed in the West, as they trail San Jose by five with just two games to play. The Sharks host Phoenix later Thursday.
Chris Osgood stopped 22 shots in the loss.
Detroit held a 3-1 lead after Franzen sent a shot from the slot past Rinne by the left post just 2:12 into the third period.
But Nashville got back within a goal with 6:42 remaining, when Arnott got the rebound off his own shot and sent it over a sprawled Osgood.
The Predators' chances of winning took a hit when Arnott was called for holding with 4:05 remaining, but Kronwall was whistled for tripping with 2:52 to play. The teams played 4-on-4 until Arnott's penalty ran out, with the Red Wings getting a great scoring chance almost immediately after the faceoff. However, Rinne stuffed the shot and eventually Nashville went on the power play.
With a little over a minute to play, Rinne skated off, giving the Predators a 6-on-4. Nashville's attackers flooded the Detroit zone, and Ryan Jones took a shot from the right side. The puck fluttered into the slot, where Arnott took a whack at it. Ward followed with another swing to get it past Osgood with 59.3 ticks left to tie the contest.
Nashville got another power play with 43.2 left in overtime, but Detroit killed it off to send the contest to a shootout.
Detroit's Jiri Hudler was the fifth shooter and scored on a snap shot between Rinne's pads. However, in a do-or-die chance, Ville Koistinen scored top shelf on a backhander to send it to a fourth round.
Rinne stopped Dan Cleary's forehand chance before Arnott scored five hole to give Nashville the win.
Kronwall got Detroit on the board with a power play goal 11:50 into the first period. However, Nichol's shot from the right circle at 6:18 of the middle frame evened the score.
Lidstrom tipped in a shot on the power-play with 32.7 ticks left in the second to give the Red Wings the 2-1 edge.
Game Notes
Nashville closes out its regular season Friday at Minnesota...Detroit plays a home-and-home set with Chicago over the weekend to close the season...The Red Wings were 2-for-4 on the power play, while Nashville went 1-for-6 with the man advantage.
<< Panthers win, but are eliminated from playoff picture
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - David Booth scored the game-winner with under
five minutes left, but the Florida Panthers couldn't fight off elimination
despite a 3-2 victory over the Atlanta Thrashers.
Florida began the night two poin
<< Capitals double-up Lightning
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brooks Laich scored twice and Mike Green
registered a goal and two assists as the Washington Capitals held on to edge
the Tampa Bay Lightning, 4-2, at St. Pete Times Forum.
David Steckel also tallied
<< Lundqvist helps Rangers clinch playoff spot, down Flyers
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Henrik Lundqvist stood tall down the stretch
and finished with 37 saves to help the New York Rangers clinch a playoff spot
for the fourth straight year with a 2-1 victory over Philadelphia at
Madison
<< Molina helps Giants crush Brewers
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bengie Molina drove in four runs in San
Francisco's 7-1 thumping of Milwaukee -- a game overshadowed when a rocket off
the bat of the Brewers' Mike Cameron caught Giants pitcher Joe Martinez in the
head du
Devils clinch Atlantic in shootout win over Senators >>
Ottawa, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brendan Shanahan scored the shootout winner, and
the New Jersey Devils wrapped up the Atlantic Division title in a 3-2 win
against the Ottawa Senators at Scotiabank Place.
The Devils needed just a point to
Lakers' Bynum returns to action >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Andrew Bynum is back, and not a second
too soon for the Lakers as the playoffs near.
Bynum stepped foot onto the floor in game action during the first quarter of
Los Angeles' game against Denver on
Bulls draw closer to playoffs with thumping of Philadelphia >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tyrus Thomas and Ben Gordon each scored 24
points as Chicago inched closer to a playoff berth with a 113-99 victory over
slumping Philadelphia.
Derrick Rose added 16 points and eight assists, Brad Mille
Miami-Ohio and Boston University advance to Frozen Four final >>
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tommy Wingels registered two goals and an
assist as Miami-Ohio defeated Bemidji State, 4-1, in the semifinals of the
Frozen Four at Verizon Center.
Alden Hirschfeld and Bill Loupee also tallied fo
In the wake of the news that the 49ers have signed receiver Michael Crabtree after an extended holdout, there has been not a hint of the dollars to be paid to Crabtree.
And since this means that his agent hasn't leaked the numbers, it means that his agent feels no specific motivation to do so.
Possibly because his agent isn't all that thrilled to have his name on the deal.
So the numbers will come from sources other than Crabtree's agent. And we've gotten our mitts into them.
Per a league source, Crabtree has signed a six-year, $32 million contract. (The total includes guaranteed money, base salaries, and the one-time incentive based on achieving minimum playing time.)
The deal also includes $17 million in guaranteed money.
As reported elsewhere, the deal can void to five years based on performance triggers, wiping out a final year base salary of $4 million. But they won't be easily reached.
The source tells us that, in his first four seasons (including 2009), Crabtree must either qualify for two Pro Bowls, or he must qualify for one Pro Bowl in one year and he must participate in 80 percent of the offensive snaps in a separate year in which the team makes the playoffs.
In other words, if in 2010 he qualifies for the Pro Bowl and the team makes the playoffs and he participates in 80 percent of the snaps, he'll still need to make it to the Pro Bowl or achieve the 80-percent/playoffs in another season.
Since the chances of Crabtree making the Pro Bowl or participating in 80 percent of the offensive snaps this year is roughly zero percent, he'll have three years to get it done.
And it won't be easy. Frankly, he'll be hard pressed to make it to one Pro Bowl in three years with the likes of Larry Fitzgerald, Calvin Johnson, Anquan Boldin, Steve Smith, the other Steve Smith, Hakeem Nicks, DeSean Jackson, Johnny Knox, Percy Harvin, Greg Jennings, Roddy White, T.J. Houshmandzadeh in the same conference for sportsbook betting.
So, by all appearances, it's a six-year deal. And at $17 million in guaranteed money, the per-year guarantee is a tepid $2.83 million per year.
There's another problem with the deal -- it has no mid-tier incentive package. Instead, the additional $8 million that Crabtree can earn (pushing the max value to six years, $40 million) requires the kind of unrealistic, mega-star performances that no rookie is likely to ever achieve.
So while the contract paid to Packers defensive tackle B.J. Raji covers five years and pays $22.5 million, he has the ability (if he's a solid player) to make up the difference between his base deal and Crabtree's five-year, $28 million haul via the mid-tier incentive package in Raji's deal.
And unless Crabtree meets the performance thresholds necessary to void the sixth year, he'll be stuck under contract for another year at a base salary of only $4 million.
There's one other area of concern with the deal. Crabtree, per the source, received no option bonus. Instead, he has significant money tied to a fairly new device known as a "discretionary salary advance," which unlike an opition bonus is subject to forfeiture if Crabtree decides in a year or two that he wants to hold out for a better deal. (We're also told that the 49ers have included language that would make certain escalators subject to forfeiture, too.)
Meanwhile, the deal falls well short of the mark for which Crabtree and agent Eugene Parker were aiming -- the five-year, $38.25 million contract paid by the Raiders to receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, the seventh overall pick in the draft.
Even if Crabtree successfully voids the final year, he'll make more than $2 million per year less on average than Heyward-Bey.
Thus, as we explained earlier in the day, this is a deal that Crabtree could have done in July, which would have given him a much better chance of making a contribution to the 49ers during his rookie year.
So while the final outcome can be described as win-win, the broader view suggests that it's really a lose-lose situation.
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El Duque expected to throw Tuesday
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- New York Mets pitcher Orlando Hernandez, sidelined at spring training because of arthritis in his neck, is expected to resume throwing on Tuesday.
Hernandez received a cortisone shot Thursday after leaving camp and returning to New York to have his neck examined. The 41-year-old right-hander is penciled in as the team's No. 2 starter behind Tom Glavine.
El Duque's health is a major issue for the Mets, who won the NL East in 2007 and came within one victory of the World Series. Their aging and unsettled rotation is a big question mark this year.
MySportsbook.com has the Mets as -110 favorites to repeat as NL East champions odds.
Hernandez went 11-11 with a 4.66 ERA last season, including 9-7 with a 4.09 ERA in 20 starts after the Mets acquired him from Arizona in late May. But he missed the playoffs because of a torn calf muscle.
New York already is without Pedro Martinez, out until at least midseason following rotator cuff surgery. Among those competing for starting jobs are prospects Mike Pelfrey, Philip Humber and Jason Vargas, plus veterans Chan Ho Park, Jorge Sosa and Aaron Sele.
Notes: Mets manager Willie Randolph is excited about two new utility players he could have on his bench: Damion Easley and David Newhan. ''Their value is really all over the place,'' Randolph said. Easley can play anywhere in the infield and could be used as an emergency outfielder, though Randolph said he would prefer to keep the veteran in the infield. Newhan, meanwhile, can play second base, third or any outfield position for the Mets. ''I love versatility,'' Randolph said. ''I love guys that can give me options when I need them to step in.''
Additional baseball lines and World Series odds can be found at: www.MySportsbook.com
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