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03/18/2010 - Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nikolai Kulemin scored the game-winner in the shootout as the Toronto Maple Leafs edged the New Jersey Devils, 2-1, at Air Canada Centre.
After each team got a goal in the first round, Kulemin buried a wrister in the back of the net. Jean-Sebastien Giguere then made a right pad save on Patrik Elias' low shot and John Mitchell sealed the win as he slammed on the brakes in front and snuck a backhand past Yann Danis.
Phil Kessel had a goal while Giguere made 24 stops for the Maple Leafs, who have won five of their last six, but still sit in the basement in the Eastern Conference.
David Clarkson had a goal and Danis made 25 saves for the Devils, who had won four of five coming in and sit one point behind Pittsburgh for top spot in the Atlantic Division with the defeat beyond regulation.
Toronto got a goal with 1:06 left in the first period as Kessel's snap shot got past Danis for his 27th goal of the season.
The Devils tied the game with 4:14 left in the second period. Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond used good work along the left boards to get the puck away from two Maple Leafs and flinged it out front for Clarkson, who wristed it home.
Giguere made 11 stops in the third period and wasn't tested in overtime while Danis stopped eight shots over the third and overtime to force the shootout.
Game Notes
The Maple Leafs have won four straight at home...New Jersey hosts St. Louis on Saturday...Toronto hosts Montreal on Saturday...Each team won twice in the season series.
<< Kariya's milestone goal lifts Blues over Rangers
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Paul Kariya's 400th career goal put St. Louis
ahead for good in the third period, as the Blues held on for a 4-3 victory
over the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden.
Brad Boyes, Mike Weaver and
<< Hurricanes down Caps in OT, still chasing playoff berth
Raleigh, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ray Whitney scored the game-winning goal with
just under a minute left in overtime to propel the Carolina Hurricanes past
the Washington Capitals, 4-3, at RBC Center.
Eric Staal had a goal and an assist fo
<< Armstrong, Thrashers double up Sens
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Colby Armstrong had two goals and an assist to
help the Atlanta Thrashers down the struggling Ottawa Senators, 6-3, at
Philips Arena.
Nik Antropov had two goals, while Jim Slater added a goal and an
<< Fleury, Pens handle Bruins in shutout
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Marc-Andre Fleury needed to make just 17 saves
to post his first shutout of the season as Pittsburgh blanked Boston, 3-0, at
TD Garden.
Tyler Kennedy, Alexei Ponikarovsky and Michael Rupp each scored once f
Pominville nets hat trick, Sabres bottle up Bolts >>
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jason Pominville picked up his second career hat
trick, as the Buffalo Sabres found some road success with a 6-2 victory over
the Tampa Bay Lightning at St. Pete Times Forum.
Buffalo had lost 10 of its last
Coyotes rally to set franchise record >>
Sunrise, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Radim Vrbata scored the game-winning goal in
the third round of the shootout, as the Phoenix Coyotes rallied from a three-
goal deficit and posted a historic 4-3 victory over the Florida Panthers.
The Coyo
Lewis leads Magic to OT win over Heat >>
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rashard Lewis recorded his second straight solid
game and drained the game-clinching three-pointer with 28.4 seconds left in
overtime, and the Orlando Magic recovered from a fourth-quarter swoon to beat
the Mia
Hartnell, Boucher lift Flyers to road win over Stars >>
Dallas, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Scott Hartnell picked up the winner early in the
third period, and Brian Boucher stopped 27 shots, as Philadelphia clipped
Dallas, 3-2, at American Airlines Center.
Simon Gagne and Mike Richards also scor
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 online football betting 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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