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03/10/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The longest road trip in NHL history will come to an end tonight when the Vancouver Canucks visit the Phoenix Coyotes at Jobing.com Arena.
The Canucks are playing their 14th straight road game this evening, having last played in Vancouver on January 27 -- nearly two weeks before the start of the Winter Olympics in British Columbia.
Vancouver has a solid 8-5-0 record so far on the epic swing and had a decent 18-16-1 mark as the guest this year. The Canucks, who will kick off a five- game homestand Saturday against Ottawa, have played much better at GM Place, posting a 23-7-1 record on home ice this season.
The Canucks beat Colorado on Tuesday night, extending their lead atop the Northwest Division to four points over the Avalanche. Mikael Samuelsson recorded his first career hat trick and Jannik Hansen scored a controversial goal late in the third period to help Vancouver rally to beat the Avalanche, 6-4, at the Pepsi Center.
Samuelsson had a four-point night, and all three of Samuelsson's tallies came in the second period, helping the Canucks win for the fourth time in five games. Vancouver trailed 3-0 after the first period and was down 4-1 in the second period.
"I wish we didn't have to come back like this," Samuelsson said. "It takes the energy away from you. You have to play the game for 60 minutes and we never stopped. That's the good thing. We know we can do it. We got a couple of comebacks early in the season, so that helps us confidence wise."
Hansen's game-winner came as he skated through the crease and deflected the puck away from goaltender Craig Anderson and the disc then trickled into the net.
Daniel Sedin had a goal and two assists, while Roberto Luongo made 23 saves in the win.
Ryan Kesler notched a pair of assists to push his point streak to 10 games. Only Tampa Bay's Steven Stamkos, who is riding a club-record 17-game point streak, has a longer current stretch in the NHL.
Meanwhile, the Coyotes will shoot for a third straight victory tonight, when they cap a five-game homestand. Phoenix is 24-10-2 as the host this year and will begin a four-game tour of the Southeast Division with Saturday's stop in Carolina.
The Coyotes haven't played since Saturday when they posted an impressive victory over Anaheim. Ilya Bryzgalov stopped 32 shots for his seventh shutout of the season to help Phoenix post a 4-0 win over the Ducks.
Wojtek Wolski had a goal and an assist while Petr Prucha, Vernon Fiddler and Keith Yandle each lit the lamp for the Coyotes, who had lost three straight prior to winning back-to-back outings.
"That's the best game we've played in a long time," said Phoenix head coach Dave Tippet. "We looked like a well-oiled machine out there. There's still work to be done but I like the way we competed tonight."
The win was Bryzgalov's 34th of the season, setting a franchise record. The previous mark of 33 was shared by Sean Burke, Bob Essensa and Brian Hayward.
This evening's game pits two of the Western Conference's highest-seeded teams against each other. Phoenix is currently fourth in the conference with 83 points, while Vancouver is third in the West with 84.
Phoenix has a tough road ahead if it wants to climb higher than the fourth seed as San Jose is 10 points ahead of the Coyotes for the Pacific Division lead.
The Coyotes and Canucks have split two meetings this year with each club winning on home ice. Phoenix has won three of five overall in the series, while Vancouver has lost two straight and three of its last four games in the desert.
<< Corvo, Walker lead Caps against Hurricanes
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Both Joe Corvo and Scott Walker were given a chance to
compete on a championship-caliber team when they were traded by the Hurricanes
to the Capitals before the trade deadline. One week later, they get to show
off in front of
<< Stars shoot for rare win in Buffalo
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After losing its first three games after the Winter
Olympics, Dallas is coming off a victory that could very well turn its luck
around. Now all it has to do is pick up its first victory at Buffalo in over
12 years.
The St
<< Surging Jazz shoot for another win over Pistons
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Keeping up with Denver in both the Northwest Division and
Western Conference standings could get a bit easier tonight for the Utah Jazz,
who will shoot for their 10th straight win over the Detroit Pistons.
Utah has won 11
<< Spurs, Knicks square off in Alamo City
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Antonio Spurs will have to continue their playoff
push tonight against the New York Knicks without star guard Tony Parker.
The team did receive some good news on Monday, however, when it was learned
that Park
Totti unsure over Azzurri return >>
Rome, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Veteran Roma forward Francesco Totti remains
uncertain whether to come out of international retirement to feature for Italy
at this summer's World Cup.
The 33-year-old called time on his Azzurri career in t
Buffon drops retirement hint >>
Turin, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon has
stated that he will retire from football as soon as he drifts out of the
international picture.
The 32-year-old, who has completed a century of appearance
Lehmann set to retire after season >>
Stuttgart, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Veteran goalkeeper Jens Lehmann is set
to call time on his illustrious career at the end of the season, after turning
down the offer of a new contract at Stuttgart.
The 40-year-old has decided agains
Pistons' Stuckey cleared for exercise >>
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) -The Detroit Pistons say three doctors have cleared Rodney Stuckey for exercise after a heart evaluation.Stuckey collapsed on the bench during Friday's game at Cleveland and was taken away on a stretcher. He missed Sunday's
The Indianapolis Colts know that winning the Super Bowl last season put a huge target on their backs, and they expect opponents to go all-out to knock them from the top of the mountain.
They’ll get their first test from the New Orleans Saints this Thursday night. The defending champs had nothing but good things to say about the New Orleans defense this past week, praising their opponents’ pass rush and run-stopping abilities.
"They play very aggressively," head coach Tony Dungy told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "They play a lot of man-to-man coverage, and they come after you. They have good pass rushers, and they're going to try to pressure us, I'm sure."
Both center Jeff Saturday and quarterback Peyton Manning gave New Orleans’ front four props, admitting keeping guys like Will Smithand Charles Grant contained would be a tall task for the offensive line.
New Orleans ranked second in total defense during the preseason at a sportsbook, allowing just under 233 yards per game. Last season, the defense finished 11th in the league after giving up 307.3 yards and 20.1 points per contest.
Not so sound on the ground
If Indianapolis' efficient offense has a weakness it has to be its running attack. The Colts one-two-punch of Dominic Rhodes and Joseph Addai is no longer, leaving the bulk of the carries to Addai, the second-year back out of LSU.
Former Saskatchewan Roughrider Kenton Keith was named Addai’s backup this week after beating out DeDe Dorsey for the second-string position. Indy has only three backs on the roster right now, including fullback Luke Lawton, and coach Dungy is aware of the thinness of his ground game. Sports Betting lines on the game can be found at BettingExpress.com
“We’ll continue to look. Luke Lawton’s done a good job for us too. So probably getting a third true tailback is something that we’d like to do,” Dungy told the Indiana Tribune-Star.
Last season, Addai rushed for over 1,000 yards in his rookie campaign and scored seven touchdowns on the ground.
Brees says bring it on
Opening the season on the road against the defending Super Bowl champions is not the way most teams would like to kick off their year – unless you’re the New Orleans Saints or their quarterback Drew Brees. This internet Sportsbooks had the Saints as the favorites.
Brees told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that he is excited to get the regular season started and the Colts are a great challenge for him and his teammates. The 28-year-old QB, entering his second season with the Saints, is expecting a wild environment in the RCA Dome this Thursday when the franchise celebrates its 2007-2007 championship.
Brees said he sees the opening game scheduling as an honor and a testament to how well New Orleans did last season. The Saints missed facing the Colts in the Super Bowl by one game, losing to the Chicago Bearsin the NFC Championship game.
"I mean, people think we can hang with these guys," Brees told reporters. "Even if they didn't, it wouldn't matter what they thought because as a team we're very confident. We know what we can do. We're not satisfied where we finished the season last year. And we've been looking forward to this opportunity for a long time."
SportsBooks ready for a shootout
Oddsmakers are preparing for some fireworks this Thursday when the NFL season kicks off. online Sportsbooks have Thursday’s total set at a whopping 52 points, accounting for two of the league’s most explosive offenses.
“This is like must-see TV,” Saints cornerback and former Colt Jason David told the Baton Rouge Advocate. “It’s two exciting offenses with great players. You’ve got a lot of star power on offense. At any given time a big play can happen. If I was a fan, I wouldn’t miss a snap.”
New Orleans, who ranked No.1 in total offense last season, can go blow-for-blow with the Colts’ attack. Head coach Sean Payton’s offensive schemes will get even better production out of Drew Brees, Reggie Bush and receiver Marques Colston now that they’ve each had a season of playing together under their belts.
The Saints and Colts were the top two passing teams in the NFL last year, but while Indianapolis managed to put up almost 27 points per game, New Orleans struggled to capitalize on their efforts. The Saints ranked fifth in points per game.
“Yards are great,” running backDeuce McAllister told reporters, “but to be able to score more touchdowns would be important for us.”
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts US credit cards
In any football or basketball game (the main sports that use point spreads) there are two teams playing against each other.
Those teams, though, are rarely exactly evenly matched – meaning that typically one team has a better chance than the other to win the game. If bettors were allowed to bet on who was simply going to win the game, smart ones would obviously bet on the better team (likely winning more than 50% of the time in the process).
If winning were that easy the Las Vegas and online sportsbooks would stop taking any bets! This is where the point spread comes in: the basic function of the point spread is to balance the likelihood of each team “winning” by adjusting the final score by the point spread. After this adjustment is made you get the Against The Spread result (ATS result for short).
Let’s look at Super Bowl XXXIX, New England Patriots vs. Philadelphia Eagles. Most people believed the defending champ Patriots to be the better team – so if betting were simply based upon which team would win the game, an uneven majority of people would have wagered on New England. But, by using the point spread, the bookmakers adjusted the terms of the bet, evening the proposition so about half the people believed the Pats to be the smart bet, while the other half considered Philly to be the smart bet.
New England Patriots -7 vs. Philadelphia Eagles
The better team, called the Favorite, is expected to win the game and must “give” or “lay” points to the weaker team. The favorite is listed with a minus sign and the number of points they are favored by (e.g., New England -7)
In the case of our example, New England must not only win the game, but they must win by more than 7 points for Pats bettors to have a winning ATS result. An Eagles bettor wins his bet either if:
There was also the possibility that the final score could land exactly on the spread number (for example, the Pats winning 28-21 when -7), which is called a “push” or “no action” and a refund is then issued to bettors of both teams.
The same game with the same point spread can be considered from the weaker team’s perspective: The Underdog (Philly in the case of our example) is not expected to win the game and thus receives or “gets” points given by the stronger team. When a game is stated from the underdog’s perspective the team is listed with a plus sign and the number of points they are underdogs by:
Philadelphia Eagles +7 vs. New England Patriots
Keep in mind that Philadelphia +7 and New England -7 is the same point spread on the same game, simply stated differently. The first is from the underdog’s perspective; the later is from the favorite’s.
Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:
Let’s look at the actual result of Super Bowl XXXIX: New England 24 Philadelphia 21
The favorite, New England, won the game but not by more than the point spread they were favored by (7), so the ATS result was a LOSS for Pats bettors.
Looking at it from the underdog’s perspective, Philly did not win the game, but they lost by less than the point spread (7), so the ATS result was a WIN for Eagle bettors.
Mathematically considered, 24 for the favorite Pats minus 7 equals 17, which is less than the 20 the Eagles scored, so the underdog Eagles win the ATS result (or you could figure 20 plus 7 equals 27 for the Eagles, which is more than 24 for the Pats).
Emily’s boyfriend understood the point spread and wagered $100 on the Eagles at +7. The Eagles may not have gotten a Super Bowl ring, but since they won the ATS result Emily’s boyfriend cashed his bet – giving him money to take her out to a nice dinner.
And now hopefully you understand how to read point spreads, putting you one step closer to joining the fun of sports betting.
To visit this internet sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting and World Series odds.
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