Penguins still have star power

For bettors who play regular season NHL games, the big news this week came out of Pittsburgh when center Sidney Crosby was put on the injured list because of a high right ankle sprain.

Crosby, the league’s leading All-Star vote-getter, will be sidelined at least six weeks and that’s expected to have a big effect on wagers made on games involving the Penguins, who are battling with Philadelphia and New Jersey for first place in the Atlantic Division.

At first glance, Pittsburgh would seem like a good bet to struggle without Crosby, last season’s NHL scoring champion and the league’s most valuable player. But that may not be the case because of forward Evgeni Malkin, who leads the Penguins with 26 goals and 56 points.

Malkin, the second overall pick of the 2005 draft who was named as Crosby’s replacement for this weekend’s All-Star game in Atlanta, is the type of player a team can rally behind.

Malkin displayed those skills in the first two games after Crosby’s injury with three combined goals and an assist to help the Penguins to a 1-0-1 record.

That’s why bettors are looking to make moneyline wagers on Pittsburgh. The Penguins, 10-1-2 since Dec. 23, are listed at -177 for tonight’s game against the Flyers, who are at +167.

According to Wagerline.com’s betting chart, Pittsburgh has received 58.33% of the moneyline picks as of Wednesday afternoon.

Golf

Tiger Woods will play in his first PGA event of the year in the Buick Invitational, which begins today in San Diego. As expected, Woods -- the event’s defending champion -- is a big favorite to win, according to Bodoglife.com.

Woods is listed at 11-10, followed by Phil Mickelson (16-1), Jim Furyk (20-1), K.J. Choi (22-1), Rory Sabbatini (25-1) and Vijay Singh (33-1).

The best play for the event could be in head-to-head odds. Here are a few interesting matchups listed: Choi (-135) vs. Sabbatini (+105), Mike Weir (-115) vs. Stephen Ames (-115), Stewart Cink (-105) vs. Tim Clark (-125), Bubba Watson (-115) vs. Nick Watney (-115), Singh (-125) vs. Aaron Baddeley (-105), Ben Crane (-115) vs. Jesper Parnevik (-115), Geoff Ogilvy (-105) vs. Brandt Snedeker (-125).

Pro Football

Winning the most valuable player award for the Super Bowl is always a special honor and Sportsbook.com has listed odds for this year’s game.

New England quarterback Tom Brady is the favorite at 2-3, followed by his New York Giants counterpart Eli Manning at 7-2. Other players listed include: New England running back Laurence Maroney (5-1), New England wide receiver Randy Moss (7-1), New York wide receiver Plaxico Burress and New England wideout Wes Welker (8-1) and New England running back Kevin Faulk (12-1).

Looking for a longshot? New York defensive end Michael Strahan is listed at 50-1. The field is listed at 6-1.

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lonnie.white@latimes.com