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R.J. Umberger and Rick Nash scored, while Vinny Prospal added a pair of assists for the Blue Jackets, who have lost four of their last five contests. Steve Mason stopped 25-of-28 shots in defeat.
Columbus showed resiliency and came up with an answer just over two minutes later when Nash picked up a loose puck in the neutral zone and raced up the right wing into Lightning territory. He dished to Jeff Carter, who fired one that was stopped by Garon, but Nash picked up the rebound, brought it around the back of the net and stuffed it into the other side to make it 3-2.
The Lightning made it 2-0 at 18:12 of the first period when Stamkos controlled the puck in the left circle and sent a cross-ice pass to a wide open Brewer, who slapped it through traffic and past Mason from the right point.
The Blue Jackets answered at 5:43 of the second period on the power play when Umberger accepted a nice saucer pass from Prospal in front of the net, took it around behind and stuffed it into an open cage.
Prior to the game, Prospal was honored for reaching 1,000 games played in his career...Saturday marked the first meeting of the season between the teams...Lightning defenseman Matt Gilroy was scratched with a lower-body injury...Carter had his four-game goal scoring streak snapped...Tampa Bay failed on three power play opportunities, while the Blue Jackets went 1-for-5 with the man advantage...Columbus will face the St. Louis Blues on Sunday, while the Lightning will head west to tangle with the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday.
Legwand followed with the winning tally. He skated into the high slot, faked a wrister, and then beat Jaroslav Halak with a backhand.
T.J. Oshie netted a goal for the Blues, who got 19 saves from Halak.
The Blues outshot the Predators 29-13 in the first two periods, but Rinne kept the game scoreless heading into the third period.
Game Notes
The Blues doubled the Predators in shots, 40-20...The Blues went 1-for-6 on the power play, while Nashville wasn't able to tally on its lone power play.
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Sam Houston State Adds Montana In Sept. >>
Nov. Leads Touchdown From North >>
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.
Barry Bonds Watch: Giants Slugger Says He'll Be Back
With only 21 home runs standing between him and Hank Aaron, Barry Bonds is indeed planning on coming back for more in 2007. At least, that's what his agent told the Los Angeles Times.
"Barry's going to play in 2007," Jeff Borris of Beverly Hills Sports Council told the Times on Tuesday. "I've had many discussions with Barry and he's going to play. My intentions are to see to it he's in a big-league uniform next season. Those are my marching orders."
Contract negotiations could get started as early as next week. Let's see which team has the deeper pockets. Will MLB baseball betting lines despite allegations of steroid use? Bet On It at www.MySportsbook.com .
Get all your baseball betting lines, MLB lines and MLB team props at the My Sportbook.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your baseball sportsbook needs.
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