12/04/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Montreal Canadiens will shoot for their third straight victory when they welcome the New York Rangers for tonight's battle between Original Six teams at the Bell Centre.
The Canadiens are coming off victories over Buffalo and Atlanta to win consecutive games for the first time since a three-game winning streak from October 28 to November 1.
The back-to-back wins have come at the start of a franchise-record seven-game homestand for the Habs, who are 7-2-2 as the host this season.
Montreal blew a three-goal lead in the third period of Tuesday's game against Atlanta, but was able to win the game in regulation. Robert Lang's empty-net goal proved to be the game-winner, as the Canadiens held on to secure a 5-4 victory over the Thrashers.
Andrei Kostitsyn's goal with 5:11 remaining in regulation put the Habs back on top 4-3 after they allowed three Atlanta goals within 59 seconds earlier in the period.
Andrei Markov, Matt D'Agostini and Tomas Plekanec also scored for Montreal, which has won three of its last four games. Carey Price allowed four goals on 26 shots in the victory.
The Rangers, meanwhile, have won four of their last five games and come into tonight's test with 38 points, which places them first in both the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference.
The Blueshirts were in action on Wednesday and rebounded nicely from Sunday's 4-0 blanking by the Florida Panthers as they notched a shootout decision over the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins.
Nikolai Zherdev netted the game-winner in the shootout, as New York edged Pittsburgh, 3-2, at Madison Square Garden.
After Markus Naslund scored on the opening shot for New York, Miroslav Satan failed for Pittsburgh. Zherdev beat Dany Sabourin with a high backhander on the Rangers' second shootout chance, then Pittsburgh's Kris Letang beat Henrik Lundqvist.
Fredrik Sjostrom eventually iced the game for the Blueshirts with his wrister.
Zherdev and Petr Prucha scored in regulation for the Rangers, while Lundqvist made 29 saves.
New York is 7-3-1 as the visiting team this year and has won two straight and three of four on the road.
This is the first of four meetings between the Rangers and Habs this season. New York has taken six of eight overall in the series, but Montreal has won two of three and three of the last five home matchups.
<< Tellqvist, Coyotes welcome Leafs to the desert
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Riding a hot hand, Coyotes' netminder Mikael Tellqvist will
get a chance to do some damage against an old club. Tellqvist will make his
second straight start tonight in Phoenix's home test against the Toronto Maple
Leafs at J
<< Avs take trip to Nashville without Sakic
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Colorado Avalanche will continue a three-game road trip
tonight without their captain, as they travel to Nashville to take on the
Predators at the Sommet Center.
Colorado begin its swing with a 6-5 win in Minnesota on
<< Red Wings try to solve Canucks
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - No matter who has been in goal for the Canucks, they have
already handed the Red Wings a pair of defeats this year. Vancouver and
Detroit wrap their season series tonight in Motown at Joe Louis Arena.
The Red Wings have lo
<< Goaltender controversy brewing as Panthers host Sabres
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Florida's solid play as of late is creating a goaltending
controversy in Sunrise. Craig Anderson, and not Tomas Vokoun, will be in net
tonight when the Panthers host the Buffalo Sabres at BankAtlantic Center.
The Panthers
Caps aim to get on track versus Islanders >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The struggling Washington Capitals will try to avoid a
third straight loss when they invite the New York Islanders for tonight's
battle at the Verizon Center.
The Capitals, who lead the Southeast Division with 29 points, h
Mighty Bruins visit struggling Lightning >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fresh off an amazing month, the powerful Boston Bruins will
play their first game of December when they visit the struggling Tampa Bay
Lightning for tonight's test at St. Pete Times Forum.
The Bruins caught the attention o
Caps recall Aucoin >>
Arlington, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Capitals have recalled center
Keith Aucoin from their AHL affiliate in Hershey.
Aucoin, an eighth-year pro with 53 games of NHL experience, leads the AHL in
scoring this season with 36 poi
White Sox deal P Vazquez to Braves >>
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Braves have acquired right-handed
starter Javier Vazquez and left-handed reliever Boone Logan from the Chicago
White Sox in exchange for four prospects.
Chicago will receive catcher Tyler F
MySportsbook.com: New College Football Clock Rules Examined
Coaches and bettors alike are desperate to make sense of the new time-keeping rules on the NCAA gridiron. One of the big stories to come out of the Ohio State-Texas clash last weekend was Texas coach Mack Brown's criticism of the NCAA's new clock rules that are intended to shorten the duration of college football games, therefore affecting college football betting.
"They scored with six minutes left and the game was over before we had a chance to do anything," Brown told ESPN.com. "I really hope whoever made these changes will go back and look them over."
Sure, it might be sour grapes; the Buckeyes thoroughly trounced the defending national champion Longhorns 24-7. However, Brown isn't alone in giving the changes their due thought. Bettors are also wondering about them, albeit for a completely different reason. Most experts agree that the changes will result in games being shortened by anywhere from 10 to 20 plays. The obvious consequence is lower scores, with more time rolling off the clock during changes of possession. (The Ohio State-Texas game flew well under the total of 52.)
According to research at the online sportsbook MySportsbook.com, more than 18 plays a game disappeared last weekend into thin air. That's a 10-percent reduction. In 2005, a typical game had 168.58 plays. For 2007 already, it's down to 150.26.
As a result, teams combined to gain an average of about 100 fewer yards a game last weekend versus the 2005 openers. Scoring was also down by about 4.5 points (attention Las Vegas sports lines).
Of course, oddsmakers were able to adjust to the changes before the season started. Proof of that came as the over went a balanced 8-9 at My Sportsbook on Saturday.
Other angles to consider:A shorter game should theoretically result in shorter lines. Whereas Team A might have been a 14-point favorite in a 168-play game (last year), if there are 10 percent less snaps in 2007, the line should also be reduced by 10 percent (to 13 or 12.5). Of course, this is an over-simplification of the matter, but something to keep in mind.
Less possessions means a better chance the game will be decided by three or seven points. For example, what might have been a 20-10 final score in 2005 may end at
17-10 in 2007. Granted, a 24-17 game last year might end at 21-17 these days, but the former - a three- or seven-point advantage being preserved as opposed to created - is the most likely scenario.
*UPDATE* - Sept. 25, 2007
New Clock Rules Boon for online bookmakers
By adjusting the time-keeping rules to shorten the duration of college football games, the NCAA hoped to make its product more enjoyable for the fans. While the NCAA's success in this regard is still up for debate, bookmakers couldn't be happier with the results.
"We are seeing a massive jump in college football betting," noted the MySportsbook.com management team. "With all the early Saturday games (12 a.m. ET) ending before the second wave begins (3:30 p.m. ET) - something that didn't always happen before the changes - bettors are now able to re-invest their winnings from the morning session in the afternoon games."
While not all bettors will choose to roll over their winnings, it doesn't take much for an impact to be seen on the bottom line. "Not all of the millions of dollars in morning payouts get re-bet. In fact, it's probably only 10 to 20 percent," noted the sportsbook management team. "Still, the increased football betting lines window will create a ton of growth for us over the course of the season."
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