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02/16/2012 - Edmonton, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tim Connolly scored the game-winning goal just 1:39 into the overtime period, leading the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 4-3 win over the Edmonton Oilers at Rexall Place.
Joffrey Lupul collected the disc in the defensive zone and raced up the left wing on a 3-on-1. Lupul held the puck until he got to the circle and feathered a pass over to Connolly, who easily tapped it in for the winner.
Lupul, Matthew Lombardi and Jake Gardiner all scored in regulation for the Leafs, who snapped a season-high four-game losing streak. James Reimer made 29 saves in the victory.
Ben Eager, Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle lit the lamp for the Oilers, who had their four-game winning streak on home ice snapped. Nikolai Khabibulin was tagged for all four goals on 26 shots in defeat.
The Leafs wasted no time opening the scoring, finding the back of the net just 40 seconds into the contest.
Phil Kessel gained the blue line on the rush and cut to the slot before dropping it off for Lupul, who ripped a quick wrister past the glove side of Khabibulin.
Toronto extended its lead to 2-0 just 58 seconds later when Cody Franson sent a pass right up the middle to Lombardi at the blue line and the veteran center went in on Khabibulin and buried a backhander.
The Oilers cut the deficit to 2-1 54 seconds later after Lennart Petrell chased down a loose puck behind the net and swung it out front to Eager, who fired it into an empty cage.
Edmonton knotted the game at two at 8:15 of the second period when Hall drove hard to the net and was rewarded with a nice pass from Sam Gagner before redirecting it past Reimer from in close.
The Leafs retook the lead with a power-play tally at 6:46 of the third period after Clarke MacArthur backhanded a pass off the left wing wall right to Gardiner, who one-timed it past Khabibulin from the point.
Edmonton, though, fought back to tie things at three with 4:04 to play in regulation after Eberle fought off two checkers in the slot and fired a perfect wrister high over the left shoulder of Reimer and just under the crossbar.
"We had a slow start but came back hard and played a good game," Eager said. "We had our chances to win, but unfortunately couldn't convert."
Game Notes
Toronto completed a season sweep of the Oilers after taking the first game of the series, 6-3 on February 6...It was Connolly's first goal since January 5...The Leafs improved to 4-3 in overtime...Toronto is 19-3-0 when leading after the first period...The Oilers finished 0-for-2 with the man advantage, while the Leafs were 1-for-3 on the power play...Toronto will face the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday, while Edmonton will host the Colorado Avalanche on Friday.
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Willie Green added 20 points, Jeff Te
<< T'Wolves keep Bobcats on the skids
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The Bobca
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Vince Carter chipped in 15 points, Lamar Odom
<< Seguin lifts Bruins over Canadiens in SO
Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tyler Seguin scored the winner in the shootout
as Boston took a 4-3 win over Montreal at Bell Centre.
Boston had blown a two-goal lead in the third, but Seguin scored on the second
chance of the shootout when
Blazers steal one from Warriors >>
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jamal Crawford made the game-winning free
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the Warriors, 93-91, at Oracle Arena.
Gerald Wallace chipped in 24 points, Nico
New Mexico downs No. 13 San Diego State >>
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kendall Williams had 21 points, Drew Gordon
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on Wednesday night to take sole possession of first place in the Mountain West
Confere
Clippers continue dominance of Wizards >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Blake Griffin had 23 points and 15 rebounds
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Caron Butler added 21 points and Chris Paul s
Roddick survives scare in San Jose; Monfils withdraws >>
San Jose, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Andy Roddick was taken to three sets by
fellow American Denis Kudla Wednesday before ultimately prevailing 6-7 (5-7),
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Third-seeded Milos
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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