Bruins hang rare home regulation defeat on Blues
Hockey Betting Lines
02/22/2012 -
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brad Marchand scored twice as Boston doubled
up St. Louis, 4-2, at Scottrade Center.
Chris Kelly and Milan Lucic each posted a goal and one assist for the Bruins,
who had lost three of four coming in.
Tim Thomas stopped 30-of-32 shots for the win as Boston maintained its slim
two-point lead in the Northeast Division. Ottawa topped Washington earlier
Wednesday.
Chris Stewart and Ryan Reaves tallied for the Blues, who have dropped two in a
row. St. Louis suffered its first home regulation setback since a 5-2 loss to
Chicago on December 3.
Brian Elliott was shelled for four goals on only 19 shots in defeat.
Marchand sailed away up the middle and beat Elliott on the backhand for a key
insurance goal which gave Boston a 4-2 advantage with 9:14 played in the third
period. Tyler Seguin's lead pass set up the strike.
Marchand's knuckling wrister put the Bruins on the board less than three
minutes into the contest, and Lucic made it 2-0 just under four minutes later
by tipping a Joe Corvo floater.
Stewart slapped home a rebound from the left side at 7:17, then B.J. Crombeen
outwaited Thomas and fired the right side where Reaves chopped it out of mid-
air and over the goal line with 7:45 to play.
Kelly scored with 40 seconds left to send Boston up 3-2 at intermission,
redirecting a Lucic feed home from the slot.
In a scoreless second period, Thomas made 14 saves and Elliott four stops.
Early in the stanza, Johnny Boychuk appeared to have given the Bruins a two-
goal edge, but a review determined his shot hit the left post and crossbar
before caroming back into play.
Game Notes
Marchand notched his first multi-goal effort since tallying three times in an
8-0 win over Florida on December 23...St. Louis hadn't given up as many as
four goals in any game since a 6-4 win over Columbus on December 18, a span of
27 contests...Elliott tied a season low for saves in a loss, having stopped 15
Flames chances in a 3-1 loss on October 28 at Calgary.
<< Ridnour lifts Minnesota over Utah
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Luke Ridnour finished with 17 points, none
bigger than his floater at the final buzzer, lifting the Timberwolves to a
100-98 comeback victory over the Jazz at Target Center on Wednesday.
With seven t
<< Noah's triple-double leads Bulls past Bucks
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Joakim Noah recorded his first career triple-
double with 13 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists, as the Chicago Bulls
cruised past the Milwaukee Bucks, 110-91.
Carlos Boozer added 20 points and seven
<< Rockets hand 76ers a 5th straight loss
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Houston's Luis Scola had 19 points and 10
rebounds in Wednesday's 93-87 win over the 76ers.
Kevin Martin scored 14 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter and Kyle Lowry
finished with 13 for the Rockets,
<< Ferrer breezes into quarters at Copa Claro
Buenos Aires, Argentina (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top seed and world No. 5 David
Ferrer easily dispatched Argentina native Facundo Bagnis on Wednesday at the
Copa Claro tennis event.
Ferrer, who was the runner-up at this event two years
<< Wichita State downs Illinois State, claims MVC crown
Normal, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Joe Ragland paced four Wichita State players in
double figures with 14 points as the Shockers took down Illinois State by a
68-55 count on Wednesday to lock up the Missouri Valley Conference title.
Garrett
No. 6 Michigan State edges Minnesota >>
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Keith Appling's go-ahead free throws with
32 seconds remaining lifted No. 6 Michigan State to a 66-61 victory over
Minnesota on Wednesday.
Austin Hollins airballed a three-pointer from the right w
Packers TE Finley tweets 2-year deal >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Green Bay Packers and tight end Jermichael Finley have
agreed on a two-year deal.
Finley confirmed a report of the deal on his Twitter account Wednesday night,
saying:
"It's TRUE! Thank you so much to the Packers
Vinci out at Monterrey Open >>
Monterrey, Mexico (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seeded Italian Roberta Vinci was a
second-round loser at the $220,000 Monterrey Open on Wednesday.
Vinci fell to Russian Nina Bratchikova 7-5, 7-5 in 1 hour, 21 minutes on the
hardcourts at Sierr
Ellis' last-second shot lifts Warriors over Suns; Curry injures foot >>
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Monta Ellis scored 26 points and made the game-
winning jumper with one second left, lifting the Golden State Warriors over
the Phoenix Suns, 106-104.
Ellis' fadeaway jumper with Grant Hill in his face snap
Avs turn tables on Kings with home victory >>
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Paul Stastny tallied twice as Colorado finished
off a season sweep of Los Angeles with a 4-1 decision at Pepsi Center.
"From start to finish tonight we played our game. We kept attacking
even after
What Is the Point Spread?
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.
How to Read Point Spreads
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:
- Philly wins the actual game by any amount of points
OR
- Philly loses the game by less than 7 points.
-
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.
For Those Who Like to Consider Things Mathematically
Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:
- Subtracting the point spread from the favorite’s score (thus the minus sign before the number) and then compare to the underdog’s score
OR
- Adding the point spread to the underdog’s score (thus the plus sign before the number) and then compare to the favorite’s score
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.
MySportsbook is considered one of the finest football betting sportsbooks according to several surveys performed by independent industry analysts considering such factors as payout accuracy and timeliness, overall quality of website, and bettor satisfaction.
MySportsbook is a large company with strong financial backing. Considered the best sportsbook for betting football online You will find their customer service is second to none and their web site is extremely user friendly and easy-to-use. All major professional sports games are available. Once you signup with MySportsbook, you may never use another online sportsbook again.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football wagering needs.
|