Young stars face off as red-hot Penguins entertain Caps

Hockey Betting Lines

02/18/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The NHL's two brightest young stars will go head-to-head as Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals attempt to cool down Sidney Crosby's scorching Pittsburgh Penguins in an intriguing matinee from Mellon Arena.

Pittsburgh comes in as the league's hottest team, having won five straight and 11 of its last 12 games. The surge has propelled the up-and-coming club into a fourth-place tie with Ottawa in the Eastern Conference standings.

The Penguins have also notched a point in 15 consecutive contests, recording a 13-0-2 mark over that span.

Pittsburgh's latest victory came Friday at the expense of the Atlantic Division-leading New Jersey Devils. Jarkko Ruutu netted a pair of goals and the Penguins scored three times during the first period en route to a 5-4 triumph at Continental Airlines Arena.

Crosby notched a goal and an assist to increase his league-leading point total, while Marc-Andre Fleury came up with 27 saves for the surging Pens.

Pittsburgh has racked up 23 goals during its current win streak and ranks third in the NHL with 200 total markers this season.

The Penguins have also been dominant at home as of late. The team has won seven in a row at the Igloo and own a 17-8-4 record as the host this season.

Washington has been headed in the opposite direction, as the club has gone just 4-9-2 since January 11 and is near the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings.

The Capitals are currently on a two-game slide after losing at Tampa Bay in a shootout on Thursday. Martin St. Louis scored the deciding goal in the third round to give the Lightning a 3-2 victory.

Dainius Zubrus had a goal and an assist and Alexander Semin recorded his 30th goal of the season for Washington, which received 27 saves from Brent Johnson in the losing effort.

Ovechkin, who edged out Crosby for last year's Calder Trophy honoring the NHL's top rookie, was kept off the scoreboard. The Russian sensation still has compiled 34 goals on the season, the fourth-highest total in the league at the moment.

Thursday's setback began a three-game road trip for the Caps, who are just 9-14-5 away from home thus far.

Pittsburgh has taken both meetings with Washington this season and has won six of the last seven games in this series. The Capitals will be trying to stop a five-game losing streak at Mellon Arena, where they haven't won since December 3, 2002.

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MySportsbook.com: New College Football Clock Rules Examined

Coaches and bettors alike are desperate to make sense of the new time-keeping rules on the NCAA gridiron. One of the big stories to come out of the Ohio State-Texas clash last weekend was Texas coach Mack Brown's criticism of the NCAA's new clock rules that are intended to shorten the duration of college football games, therefore affecting college football betting.

"They scored with six minutes left and the game was over before we had a chance to do anything," Brown told ESPN.com. "I really hope whoever made these changes will go back and look them over."

Sure, it might be sour grapes; the Buckeyes thoroughly trounced the defending national champion Longhorns 24-7. However, Brown isn't alone in giving the changes their due thought. Bettors are also wondering about them, albeit for a completely different reason. Most experts agree that the changes will result in games being shortened by anywhere from 10 to 20 plays. The obvious consequence is lower scores, with more time rolling off the clock during changes of possession. (The Ohio State-Texas game flew well under the total of 52.)

According to research at the online sportsbook MySportsbook.com, more than 18 plays a game disappeared last weekend into thin air. That's a 10-percent reduction. In 2005, a typical game had 168.58 plays. For 2007 already, it's down to 150.26.

As a result, teams combined to gain an average of about 100 fewer yards a game last weekend versus the 2005 openers. Scoring was also down by about 4.5 points (attention Las Vegas sports lines).

Of course, oddsmakers were able to adjust to the changes before the season started. Proof of that came as the over went a balanced 8-9 at My Sportsbook on Saturday.

Other angles to consider:A shorter game should theoretically result in shorter lines. Whereas Team A might have been a 14-point favorite in a 168-play game (last year), if there are 10 percent less snaps in 2007, the line should also be reduced by 10 percent (to 13 or 12.5). Of course, this is an over-simplification of the matter, but something to keep in mind.
Less possessions means a better chance the game will be decided by three or seven points. For example, what might have been a 20-10 final score in 2005 may end at

17-10 in 2007. Granted, a 24-17 game last year might end at 21-17 these days, but the former - a three- or seven-point advantage being preserved as opposed to created - is the most likely scenario.

*UPDATE* - Sept. 25, 2007

New Clock Rules Boon for online bookmakers

By adjusting the time-keeping rules to shorten the duration of college football games, the NCAA hoped to make its product more enjoyable for the fans. While the NCAA's success in this regard is still up for debate, bookmakers couldn't be happier with the results.

"We are seeing a massive jump in college football betting," noted the MySportsbook.com management team. "With all the early Saturday games (12 a.m. ET) ending before the second wave begins (3:30 p.m. ET) - something that didn't always happen before the changes - bettors are now able to re-invest their winnings from the morning session in the afternoon games."

While not all bettors will choose to roll over their winnings, it doesn't take much for an impact to be seen on the bottom line. "Not all of the millions of dollars in morning payouts get re-bet. In fact, it's probably only 10 to 20 percent," noted the sportsbook management team. "Still, the increased football betting lines window will create a ton of growth for us over the course of the season."

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