Jokinen's hat trick leads Flames over Sharks
Hockey Betting Lines
02/09/2012 - San Jose, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Olli Jokinen capped his seventh career hat trick with the winner in the third period as the Calgary Flames took a 4-3 win over the San Jose Sharks.
Jokinen also had an assist while Jarome Iginla added a goal and an assist for the Flames, who had dropped three of four coming into the contest.
Miikka Kiprusoff stopped 34 shots for the 300th win of his career.
Joe Pavelski, Michal Handzus and Logan Couture all scored for the Sharks, who have lost their past two. Antti Niemi made 32 saves in the loss.
Before the start of the game, San Jose honored former captain Owen Nolan, who announced his retirement from the NHL on Tuesday.
San Jose had tied the game at 3-3 just 49 seconds into the third on the power play when Handzus jammed it in during a scrum in front.
However, Jokinen finished the hat trick less than three minutes later. A bad clear in the San Jose end saw the puck take a bounce off the boards along the right wing as Alex Tanguay picked it up and fired a pass down low where Jokinen one-timed it home.
Kiprusoff stopped 14 shots in the final period to preserve the win.
It was a 1-0 lead for Calgary at the 12:30 mark of the first after Chris Butler blasted a shot on net from the left point that hit off of Jokinen and went past Niemi.
The Flames took a 2-0 lead 2:36 into the second on the power play as Jokinen jammed the puck in from the right side.
The Sharks got one back at the 6:29 mark as Couture beat Kiprusoff with a wrister from the right circle and the team tied the game just 1:23 later when Joe Thornton sent a pass from behind the net to the slot and Pavelski shot it in for his 20th of the season.
Calgary made it a 3-2 game with 8:45 to play in the second as Jokinen sent a backhand pass from the right wing to the slot where Iginla one-timed it home.
Game Notes
Calgary plays in Phoenix on Thursday...San Jose hosts Chicago on Friday...San Jose had won the previous five games against Calgary, including two games this season...Pavelski is just five goals away from tying a career-high...Jokinen has 16 goals on the 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.