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03/12/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Capitals didn't have to break a sweat in clinching their third straight Southeast Division title on Wednesday.
Tonight, they'll try to move closer to locking up the top seed in the Eastern Conference when they host the Tampa Bay Lightning tonight at Verizon Center.
The Capitals were off Wednesday, but clinched the division title as a result of Atlanta's regulation loss against Columbus. Washington -- which leads the Southeast by a whopping 33 points over the Thrashers and Tampa -- not only became the first NHL club this season to win its division, but also is the first to secure a playoff spot.
With 99 points, Washington also comes into tonight with a 14-point lead over Pittsburgh for the East's top seed with 17 games remaining for both teams. The Caps could also claim their first Presidents' Trophy as they lead the NHL by four points over San Jose.
Washington is coming off a close victory Wednesday against the visiting Carolina Hurricanes. Tomas Fleischmann scored with 1:40 remaining in overtime to lift the Caps to the 4-3 decision at Verizon Center.
In the extra session, Fleischmann hammered an Eric Belanger feed past Carolina goaltender Manny Legace.
"I jumped from the bench and (Belanger) made the pass. I didn't get all of it. But it went in so I was happy," Fleischmann said.
Mike Green scored twice on the power play for Washington, while Jose Theodore turned aside 28 shots to earn the win -- the Caps' 21st victory in their last 26 games.
NHL leading scorer Alex Ovechkin added two assists, giving him two or more points in 30 of his 59 games this season. The Russian superstar leads the NHL with 94 points this year.
Washington, which is capping a five-game homestand tonight, is 26-3-4 as the host this season.
Tampa Bay enters tonight trailing Boston by six points for the East's final playoff spot and the Lightning have lost two straight and seven of their last eight games.
The Bolts were dealt a 4-3 overtime loss Thursday in Toronto, losing on Phil Kessel's tally 3:33 into OT.
Steven Stamkos had a goal and an assist, stretching his amazing points streak to a franchise-record 18 games and his goal string to seven contests. The sophomore star has 42 goals this year, placing him behind only Ovechkin and Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby for the league lead.
Kurtis Foster and Steve Downie also lit the lamp for Tampa Bay, while Mike Smith stopped 34 shots in defeat.
"There's a lot of young guys that are fighting for jobs in the next upcoming season," Stamkos said. "They worked hard and wanted it a little more."
The Lightning have a dismal 9-19-6 record as the guest this year and are closing out a three-game road trip tonight. Tampa will begin a four-game homestand with Sunday's test against the Penguins.
The Capitals have taken three of four from Tampa this year and 14 of the last 15 matchups overall. The Bolts have dropped seven straight and nine of 10 in D.C. The teams will wrap the season series March 20 in Tampa.
<< Lafayette and Lehigh renew rivalry in Patriot League title tilt
Bethlehem, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Arch rivals Lafayette and Lehigh will collide
in the championship game of the Patriot League Tournament this afternoon in
Bethlehem, with the winner earning the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
This is t
<< Blue Devils hope to avoid upset in ACC tourney clash with Cavs
Greensboro, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The top-seeded and fourth-ranked Duke Blue
Devils begin their quest for another ACC Tournament title today, as they take
on the ninth-seeded Virginia Cavaliers in the quarterfinal round at Greensboro
Coliseum.
<< Tulsa takes on UTEP in C-USA Tournament semifinals
Tulsa, OK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The top-seeded and 25th-ranked Texas-El Paso
Miners come together with the fifth-seeded Tulsa Golden Hurricane in the
semifinal round of the Conference USA Tournament today at the BOK Center. The
survivor of this bo
<< Irish and Mountaineers fight for right to play for Big East title
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The third-seeded and seventh-ranked West
Virginia Mountaineers duke it out with the seventh-seeded Notre Dame Fighting
Irish in the semifinal round of the Big East Tournament tonight at Madison
Square Garden. The
Thunder host hapless Nets >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The chances of the Oklahoma City Thunder posting their
fifth straight home win look promising, as they will resume a three-game
residency versus the miserable New Jersey Nets from the Ford Center.
The Thunder made it four
Desperate Grizzlies welcome Knicks to Memphis >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Memphis Grizzlies are still alive in the Western
Conference playoff race, but time is running short. Tonight they'll begin a
three-game homestand versus the New York Knicks at FedEx Forum with hopes of
gaining ground in t
Sabres try to run win streak to four games versus Wild >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Buffalo Sabres will aim for a fourth consecutive
victory when they welcome the Minnesota Wild for an interconference clash at
HSBC Arena.
The Sabres' three-game winning streak is the club's longest since a season-
bes
Spurs, Wolves square off in Twin Cities >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Antonio Spurs will try to continue their mastery of
the Minnesota Timberwolves when the two Western Conference inhabitants get
together tonight at the Target Center.
San Antonio has won 10 straight and 15 of the pa
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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 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.
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