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Red Wings -145 vs. Blues

Two old and bitter rivals meet up in St. Louis tonight as the Red Wings travel south to take on the Blues.  Both teams have gotten off to fast starts in the Central Division, with St. Louis holding a surprising early lead in the standings against the defending Stanley Cup Champions.  Surprising because Detroit has won the Central seven straight seasons, while St. Louis has rarely climbed out of the cellar during that same period.

The Red Wings (3-1-1-0) have had their share of injuries in the early part of the season. Henrick Zetterberg has missed games with minor injuries and now Andreas Lilia had to undergo an emergency appendectomy which puts him out of this game, however the defenseman expects to return by Friday. The Wings topped the surprising Rangers in overtime, 5-4, Saturday night at Joe Louis Arena. The win was the team’s first on home ice, but skate into the Scottrade Center attempting to stay undefeated on the road. But something clearly has to give as the Blues are undefeated in three games on home ice.

St. Louis also last took the ice on Saturday and also had to go to extra time to beat their division rival Blackhawks. The Blues bested Chicago 4-3 in a shootout at home. Former Wing Manny Legace looks to continue his dominance this season against his former mates. The Blues’ netminder is 4-0-0 this season with a 2.41 GAA and a .951 save percentage. On the other side of the ice is Chris Osgood who is 2-1-1 with a gaudy 3.25 GAA and a .884 save percentage. Osgood played for the St. Louis Blues during his time away from the Red Wings.

Despite finishing in last place behind the eventual Stanley Cup Champion Red Wings, the Blues held their own against Detroit last year. The Wings did have a slight edge in last year’s series, but only by a game, 4-3-1 with St. Louis claiming the last game of the series last season 4-3 in overtime which was also played at Scottrade.

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Chargers - 6 1/2 vs Dolphins

Having won two games in a row, the San Diego Chargers have seemingly righted their ship. Or have they? The Chargers' wins this season have hardly been impressive. While the scores look lopsided, 48-29 against the Jets and 28-18 versus the Raiders, San Diego (2-2) let both opponents hang around in the game way too long for most fans' liking, especially taking into account the team's last second losses to Carolina and Denver. In both of their wins, the Chargers have fallen behind and had to fight their way back into the game.

Meanwhile, the Miami Dolphins (1-2) return from their bye week with the momentum of giving the New England Patriots their first regular season loss since 2006.  Ronnie Brown went crazy and became a fantasy footballers dream in that game, running for four touchdowns and throwing for a fifth touchdown in Foxboro.  The Dolphins, who looked like one of the worst teams in the NFL prior to Week 3, gained some hope with Brown’s wonderful game in the upset over the Pats.  Still, it will be hard for Brown to duplicate that kind of success, even against San Diego's 28th ranked team defense.

The key matchup in this one may be San Diego's prolific offense against Miami's serviceable defense.  Miami will be able to score against San Diego, but will their 15th ranked defense be able to stop LaDainian Tomlinson, Philip Rivers and company enough to put them in a position for the win?

This is a homecoming for Chargers' receiver Chris Chambers, who spent his first six years in the NFL in South Beach before a 2007 trading deadline deal sent him to San Diego. Chambers became a star in 2005 game against Buffalo when he hauled in 15 passes for 238 yards against Buffalo. The Chargers would love for Chamber's homecoming to be just as productive.

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