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03/06/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Coming off just their second regulation loss in 14 games, the Los Angeles Kings will try to post their first victory over the Montreal Canadiens in seven years tonight in a meeting at Staples Center.
The Kings came out of the Olympic break flying, as they posted a 5-1 win at Dallas on Tuesday. Los Angeles then concluded its mini-trip on Thursday with a 4-2 loss in Nashville to fall to only 11-2-1 in its last 14 games, but also one point behind Phoenix for fourth overall in the Western Conference.
"We were lacking in intensity and hard work," Kings forward Anze Kopitar said. "We took some lazy penalties and gave them the momentum."
Alexander Frolov scored for Los Angeles to give him three goals and nine points over his last seven games and Drew Doughty also scored for the Kings, who have won five of their last six at home. Jonathan Quick gave up three goals on 31 shots in the loss.
Forward Ryan Smyth hit a milestone in the setback, picking up his 700th career point with an assist on Doughty's goal.
The Kings will now try to halt a four-game slide to the Canadiens. Los Angeles dropped a 4-3 test in Montreal on January 31 of last season and hasn't bested the Habs since March 8, 2003.
Quick posted 22 saves in last season's loss, while Dustin Brown, Jarret Stoll and Michael Handzus all scored goals.
Montreal's current win streak over Los Angeles includes a pair of victories at the Staples Center. Goaltender Carey Price posted 29 saves in last year's home win and was solid as well on Thursday versus San Jose. However, he was beaten twice in a 2:33 span in the third period as the Habs dropped a 3-2 contest to the Sharks.
"He kept us in it and gave us a chance. I wish we could have gotten that win for him." Canadiens defenseman Hal Gill said of Price, who finished with 37 saves.
Scott Gomez and Brian Gionta each had a goal and an assist for the Canadiens, who have lost four of their last six and are now tied with Atlanta and the New York Rangers for the final playoff spot in the East, one point back of seventh-seeded Boston.
Montreal fell to 1-1-0 on a four-game road trip and has lost five of its last seven overall on the road. The Canadiens are 15-16-2 as the guest this season.
<< Revamped Coyotes host Ducks in Pacific clash
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Phoenix Coyotes will try to record consecutive wins
when they welcome the Anaheim Ducks for tonight's Pacific Division battle at
Jobing.com Arena.
The Coyotes were dealt their third straight loss when they emerged from
<< Thrashers' playoff push resumes in Tampa
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Thrashers will shoot for a third straight
victory when they visit the struggling Tampa Bay Lightning tonight at St. Pete
Times Forum.
The Thrashers have won two straight since the NHL came back from the Olympic
<< Rangers brace for test from high-powered Caps
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After struggling to keep the opposition off the scoreboard
their most recent time out, the New York Rangers now have to face the NHL's
most potent offense in tonight's showdown with the powerful Washington
Capitals from the V
<< Hurricanes go for eighth straight in visit to Florida
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A fire sale at the trade deadline has yet to slow down the
Carolina Hurricanes, who'll be taking aim at an eighth consecutive victory in
tonight's clash with the Southeast Division-rival Florida Panthers from the
BankAtlantic
Suddenly-slumping Senators to host rival Leafs >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Ottawa Senators will try to get back in the win column
tonight, when they host the Toronto Maple Leafs in a battle between Northeast
Division foes at Scotiabank Place.
The Senators have 76 points and are one back of Bu
Hornaday Jr. claims Atlanta pole >>
Hampton, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ron Hornaday Jr. will start on the pole for
Saturday's E-Z GO 200 Camping World Truck Series race after topping the
qualifying charts at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Hornaday, the defending series champion, secured
Bob Bryan, Isner get U.S. on the board against host Serbs >>
Belgrade, Serbia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A doubles team of Bob Bryan and John Isner
got the United States a much-needed point on Saturday, as the last-minute
pairing bested a Serbian duo of Janko Tipsarevic and Nenad Zimonjic in their
best-of
Croatia moves into Davis Cup quarters >>
Varazdin, Croatia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Croatia holds an insurmountable 3-0 lead
over visiting Ecuador in their best-of-five first-round Davis Cup matchup and
has advanced to the quarterfinals in July.
The Croats officially eliminated Ecuador
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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