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03/20/2009 - Buffalo, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Danny Briere scored two goals late in the second period to help the Philadelphia Flyers edge the Buffalo Sabres, 6-4, at HSBC Arena.
Mike Richards had a goal and two assists while Simon Gagne, Jeff Carter and Mike Knuble each lit the lamp for the Flyers, who had dropped three of four coming into the contest. Martin Biron made 39 saves in the win.
With 86 points, Philadelphia currently holds the fourth spot in the Eastern Conference with 12 games to play.
Derek Roy, Dominic Moore and Thomas Vanek each had a goal for the Sabres, who have lost five of their last six games. Patrick Lalime gave up all six goals on 31 shots.
Thanks to three consecutive power plays in the first period, Buffalo had several scoring chances and wound up with 13 shots on net, but were unable to put any past Biron, who made a beautiful glove save on Tim Connolly with 2 1/2 minutes to play in the frame.
Philly, though, did light the lamp in the opening frame to take a 1-0 lead.
Richards was hooked on a breakaway and awarded a penalty shot with 2:14 left in the frame, but his wrister dinged off the crossbar. However, he did score on a power play with 1:32 left in the frame as he skated down the right wing, cut through the middle and slipped a low shot between the pads of Lalime with 1:32 left in the first period.
Buffalo tied the game 3:55 into the second period as Jason Pominville sent a saucer pass from the right boards to the low left side, where Vanek chipped it past Biron.
The Sabres took a 2-1 lead less than three minutes later as Moore from the right side of the net banked the puck off the left skate of Biron and across the goal line.
However, the Flyers tied the game on the power play halfway through the second as Richards' slap pass from the top of the right circle was redirected into the net by Gagne in the slot.
Buffalo, though, regained the lead with under six minutes to play in the second as Roy jammed in a loose puck right near the goal line for a 3-2 advantage.
However, Briere scored twice over a span of 2:05 in the second period against his former team to give his current club a 4-3 lead heading into the third period.
Briere's first goal came when he received a pass from Matt Carle and chipped the puck past the glove of Lalime with 2:40 left in the frame.
Briere then scored the 200th goal of his career as Richards sent a backhand pass from the right boards to the slot, where Briere slapped it past Lalime.
Philadelphia gave itself some insurance at the 4:31 mark of the third. Knuble made a pass from the right side to the left, where Claude Giroux paused before flicking a shot on net. The puck was stopped, but popped into the air and Knuble banged it in. The goal was reviewed to see if Knuble hit it in with a high stick, but there was not enough evidence to overturn the call and the goal was allowed to stand.
Carter sealed the win with 2:11 to play.
Chris Butler scored his first NHL goal just before the clock expired to account for the final score.
Game Notes
The Flyers play in Pittsburgh on Sunday...The Sabres travel to New York where they will play the Rangers on Saturday...The Flyers took all four games against the Sabres this season...Philly went 2-for-3 on the power play while Buffalo failed on all seven of its chances.
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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 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.
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“You play to win the game!”
Those are the words of notoriously intense head coach Herman Edwards. Unfortunately, from a bettors’ perspective, most coaches don’t feel that way about the NFL preseason. August is a time to evaluate young players, finalize the depth chart and pray your star players stay healthy.
The trick to making money during the exhibition schedule is identifying coaches – like Edwards – who can’t stand losing even when there's nothing on the line.
The New York Jets betting won 15 of 21 preseason games and went 14-7 against the spread (ATS) during Edwards’s five-year tenure with the club. In his first season as the Kansas City Chiefs field boss, the team improved from 0-4 to 2-2.
Identifying win-a-holics like Edwards is a good start if you plan betting the preseason – even though most say you shouldn’t ... but what the hell do they know anyway?
Here’s a brief rundown of two teams that have a habit of winning during the second-stringers’ season, and another club that has a good chance of exceeding this year.
Playing in the media hub of North America can be stressful but the press can’t write anything negative about the way Tom Coughlin’s boys play in the preseason. The Giants won and covered all four games last summer, improving their record to 7-1 both straight up (SU) and against the spread over the last two years.
Coughlin has shown he’s not afraid to give his starters more time in the second preseason game than most of his colleagues, no doubt one of the reasons his team has been so dominant.
Bettors can count on America’s team early on. The Cowboys are 14-6 both SU and ATS since 2002 in warm-up contests. Former coach Bill Parcells, the coach of the team the last four years, has an intimidating, in-your-face presence – surely a reason Dallas has had so much early success.
The Big Tuna won’t be strolling the sidelines with looks of disgust, but new coach Wade Phillips will be anxious to make a good first impression for owner Jerry Jones.
Dallas plays the Indianapolis Colts and the Denver Broncos before things get serious. They then face the Houston Texans in their third contest (the game starters see most game time) and finish off with the Minnesota Vikings.
Expect a Dallas team able to walk away with another 3-1 preseason record.
This team scored a league-worst 12 offensive touchdowns last season, so the rookies and veterans each have something to prove. There’s a bounty of first-unit jobs up for grabs and plenty of bodies competing for those slots.
First-time head coach Lane Kiffin will be eager to impress an owner who employs the philosophy, “Just win, baby!”
The 32-year-old Kiffin has to command respect from a locker room full of players older than him. All of these factors should lead to purpose in preseason.
Don’t forget: before playing like a team that belonged in NFL Europe, Oakland went 4-1 (both SU and ATS) in exhibition games.
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