Biron, Flyers cool off Pens

Hockey Betting Lines

03/22/2009 - Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Martin Biron made 27 saves to lead the Philadelphia Flyers to a 3-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins in an important Eastern Conference playoff race matchup at the Igloo.

Simon Gagne and Scott Hartnell scored power-play goals for the Flyers, who have won two in a row after losing three of their previous four and moved two points ahead of Pittsburgh in the race for fourth place in the East.

Kris Letang netted the lone goal for Pittsburgh, which had a three-game win streak stopped. The Penguins have 86 points and the Flyers now have 88 in the race for home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

Marc-Andre Fleury made 17 saves in defeat, as the Penguins failed to register a point for the first time in 13 games (10-1-2). Pittsburgh's last loss in regulation came in a 5-2 setback at Washington on February 22.

Gagne gave Philadelphia a 1-0 lead just 5:19 into the contest with his 29th goal of the season, as he picked up a loose puck in the left circle and beat Fleury on the power play. Hartnell's 27th goal of the season just 2:54 into the second period made it 2-0.

Biron was outstanding for the remainder of the stanza, turning aside all 11 Penguin shots. A number of saves were of the spectacular variety.

Tyler Kennedy was unable to penetrate Biron with a point-blank chance from the low right circle just a few seconds after Hartnell's goal and the Flyer netminder made two dynamite saves soon after, one diving across the goal mouth with the shaft of his stick.

The Penguins finally beat Biron midway through the third on a power play. Sidney Crosby pulled the puck out of a scrum in the right corner and skated toward the net before sending a pass across the top of the crease for an onrushing Letang, who buried a shot into the empty side of the cage for his eighth goal of the season.

Pittsburgh failed to generate much of an offensive threat afterward and Biron's best save down the stretch came when he kicked out the left pad to deny Jordan Staal from the slot with 2:42 remaining.

Pittsburgh pulled Fleury with 40 seconds to play and Darroll Powe found the empty net with 27.2 seconds left to seal it.

Game Notes

Hartnell added an assist...Evgeni Malkin picked up an assist for Pittsburgh and leads the NHL with 105 points...The Flyers were 2-for-7 on the power play, while the Penguins scored once on four chances with the extra skater...The Penguins had been 7-0-1 in their last eight home games since a 3-0 setback to Detroit on February 8.

Wwwsexkorea Hockey Betting News

<< Guerrero's double helps Hamburg keep pace
Gelsenkirchen, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jose Paolo Guerrero scored two goals in a four-minute span in the second half to lead Hamburg to a 2-1 win over Schalke at Veltins Arena on Sunday. Guerrero didn't crack the scoreboard until th

<< Top-seeded Huskies cruise into second round
Storrs, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tina Charles piled up 32 points and 11 rebounds, leading the top-seeded Connecticut Huskies to a 104-65 rout over the 16th-seeded Vermont Catamounts in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Charles

<< Not So Hard: Syracuse advances to Sweet 16
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Eric Devendorf scored 21 points and Andy Rautins added 17, as Syracuse advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament with a 78-67 victory over Arizona State at American Airlines Arena. Rick Jackson chipped

<< Twente closes gap to nine points
Enschede, Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Twente revived its fading title hopes on Sunday with a 2-1 win over 10-man Groningen at Arke Stadion, while leaders AZ Alkmaar finished 0-0 with Feyenoord. Groningen was reduced to 10 men just 12

<< Liverpool moves to within one point of United
Liverpool, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Steven Gerrard scored three times to lead Liverpool to a resounding 5-0 win over Aston Villa at Anfield on Sunday, reducing Manchester United's lead over the Reds to just one point. United still has

Utes put the clamps on 'Nova to advance >>
College Park, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kalee Whipple scored 15 points and pulled down eight rebounds, leading the ninth-seeded Utah Utes to a 60-30 pasting of the eighth-seeded Villanova Wildcats in the first round of the NCAA Tournam

Canadiens recall Sergei Kostitsyn from Hamilton >>
Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Montreal Canadiens have recalled forward Sergei Kostitsyn from Hamilton of the American Hockey League. Kostitsyn was sent to the minors on February 17 after playing in 52 games for the Canadiens this se

Late surge lifts Spartans over Middle Tennessee >>
East Lansing, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Aisha Jefferson scored 20 points in leading the ninth-seeded Michigan State Spartans to a 60-59 win over the eighth-seeded Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders in the first round of the NCAA Tournam

Aldrich posts triple-double, Kansas rolls past Dayton >>
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cole Aldrich contributed a triple-double with 13 points, 20 rebounds and a career-high 10 blocks, as third-seeded Kansas handled 11th-seeded Dayton, 60-43, to advance to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA To

Opportunistic Aggies rout Evansville >>
South Bend, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Danielle Gant tallied 21 points and Tanisha Smith scored a career-high 20, as the second-seeded Texas A&M Aggies upended 15th-seeded Evansville, 80-45 to advance to the second round of the NCAA Tou

College Football Betting Tips From a Pro

While the NFL is the sport wagered on the heaviest, college football betting lines has become more and more popular as people realize it’s a game that can be beat. The NCAA football season gets longer each year with the addition of numerous bowl games and with that comes more opportunities for more money in your pocket, if handled correctly.

Betting on college football is not the same as with the NFL, so make sure you separate the two. Because of the vast number of teams, the parity between college football programs is slight and thus, you are going to see some high numbers in the NCAA. Teams favored by more than 40 points are not uncommon especially early in the season when teams playing their non-conference schedules.

The best advice when trying to tackle these enormous spreads and is to just stay away. A team that is favored by 40 points is favored by that many for a reason while teams getting 40 points are bad enough that they shouldn’t be touched. Set yourself a spread limit. Getting rid of these games will cut down on the number of contests that you need to handicap while staying away from backdoor or front-door covers.

What is a backdoor and front-door cover you ask? A backdoor cover is a team that is getting beat by more than the spread, but scores late to get within that number thus covering the spread. A front-door cover is just the opposite where the favorite scores late and covers the number they are favored by.

These front-door and backdoor covers are common when second and third string players enter games in college football and it can be the worst nightmare for some bettors. These players can also be your best friend, but ask any bettor and he will give you more instances on losing in this situation than winning. It just seems to work out that way even though everything evens out in the end.

College football betting has some of the softest lines of any sport and it’s being able to find these lines that will make you a successful college football handicapper. The NFL and NBA have the tightest lines around and while those sports can be beat by looking at situations and systems, college football doesn’t quite work that way. It’s much more manual, but when done correctly, it’s much more gratifying as well.

Getting into the nuts and bolts of college football means looking at the many stats in order to beat the number. As opposed to pro football, college football is less dependent on situations and angles and more on certain statistics. Rushing offense and defense, pass efficiency offense and defense and turnover margins are huge. These are vital in the NFL, but even more so when it comes to college football.

Being able to run the ball in college football has always been a key factor in the overall success of a team. The same adage also goes for teams who have the ability to stop the run. Putting these two factors together can produce some positive results in a team’s record both straight up and against the spread. These numbers show huge differences in teams and the spread may not take those into effect, which is where the value comes into play.

Passing yardage numbers both for and against can be a misinterpreted statistic. However, pass efficiency has always been one of the best ways to look at a teams’ passing game ability both offensively and defensively. But is it really a true indication of how they perform? I wouldn’t say so since they are raw passing numbers with nothing else taken into consideration.

I use pass efficiency ratings when doing my handicapping but I adjust my numbers based on a number of factors including power ratings, strength of schedules, personnel and injuries. This gives a much better picture of a team’s ability to pass effectively and also being able to defend the pass. Tweaking pass efficiency stats instead of raw passing yards is the key.

Turnovers are the single most frustrating, and at times the most gratifying, aspect of a college football lines, mostly because they are so unpredictable. They are part of the game and most of the time nothing can be done to control them. However, turnovers are contagious and they can carry over from game to game and season to season.

It’s important to know how to forecast these unforeseen events and how to use them to your advantage. You can find ways to give yourself an edge by looking at past histories of teams and coaches and how they have fared in turnover wars in the past. Instead of turnovers hurting you at the wrong times, find ways to use them to your advantage.

As you can see, college football handicapping is very labor intensive and isn’t just based on where teams are ranked in the AP and coaches polls. Experience, coaching and match-ups are all important since unlike the NFL, college teams turn over much more often with new personnel at most positions every single year. Keeping current on this information is vital.

Betting NCAA football can be lucrative if done correctly, but more importantly, it’s just plain enjoyable because it can be beat. College football is one of the best sports to watch with some of the best rivalries taking place in all of sports. The only downfall is that a championship isn’t decided on the field but on a computer-based system that is the Bowl Championship Series. That will change someday and we will all be better off for it.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your NCAA college football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.