Ducks battle Avs in Anaheim

Hockey Betting Lines

03/21/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Anaheim Ducks will try to continue heading in the right direction when they host the Colorado Avalanche tonight at Honda Center.

The Ducks have won three straight, giving the club its longest winning streak since a season-best five-game stretch from Jan. 5-13.

Even with another victory today, Anaheim has an uphill battle to make the playoffs as it trails Detroit by nine points for the eighth and final postseason berth in the Western Conference.

Meanwhile, Colorado enters Sunday in seventh place in the West -- three points ahead of Detroit. The Avalanche also trail Vancouver by six points for first place in the Northwest Division.

The Ducks and Avs have split a pair of meetings this year, but Anaheim has dominated the recent series, winning nine of the last 11 matchups. Colorado has also been defeated in six of eight and eight of its last 11 trips to Orange County.

Tonight also marks the finale of Anaheim's seven-game homestand. The Ducks are 3-2-1 on the residency and have a 22-11-3 home record this season. The club will begin a three-game road trip Tuesday in Calgary.

Anaheim earned its most recent victory in dramatic fashion on Friday, picking up the 5-4 overtime win on Saku Koivu's goal 14 seconds into the extra session at Honda Center.

In OT, Bruno Gervais tried to force a pass that Koivu picked off. The Finnish veteran then skated into the New York zone and snapped a wrister into the left corner of the net.

Lubomir Visnovsky scored twice, including the tying goal with 32 seconds left in regulation, while Jason Blake and Matt Beleskey each lit the lamp for the Ducks.

"We need every point," said Visnovsky. "The last three games we've won have been great for the team. We have confidence. Tonight was a crazy game. For me, every puck was bouncing off my stick and I was not very comfortable with the puck. But it doesn't matter because the team wins and everything is OK."

Jonas Hiller gave up three goals on 17 shots and was pulled halfway through the second period. Curtis McElhinney finished the game in net and stopped 13 shots to get the win.

Anaheim winger Teemu Selanne remains at 599 career goals. Should he get to 600, he will be the 18th player in NHL history to reach that mark and if he gets to 601, he will tie Jari Kurri for most goals ever by a Finland native. He finished Friday's game with two assists.

The Avalanche had a three-game winning streak halted its last time out, losing to visiting Calgary in regulation. Rene Bourque tallied twice and Vesa Toskala made 32 saves to lead the Flames to Wednesday's 3-2 victory.

Chris Durno and Milan Hejduk scored for the Avalanche and Craig Anderson took the loss despite 31 stops.

"We can't afford to get comfortable out there, no matter what the reason is," Avs center Paul Stastny said.

Stastny added an assist in Wednesday's loss to push his point streak to nine games. He has five goals and 11 helpers during the run.

Colorado is playing the first of two straight on the road tonight and will visit Los Angeles on Monday. The Avs are 18-13-4 as the guest this season.

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How did changes to college football betting rules affect bettors?

The 2007 college football rules changes that were implemented to shorten games are now history. The NCAA rules committee did what they set out to do; games were cut by an average of 14 minutes per game last season. There were also, on average, 14 fewer plays per game. We’ll get into how that did (or didn’t) affect games in regards to the pointspread a bit later.

While the NCAA rules committee may have had the betterment of the game in mind, they'll now “turn back the clock” for next season. Two key rules have now been overturned by the NCAA committee for the 2007 season, something definitely for the better.

For those of you who may not remember what those rules actually were, let us refresh your memory.

1) The first one was actually starting the clock on a kickoff as soon as the kicker touched the ball rather than waiting until the returner touched it. The problem here was near the end of the half (or game), if the team leading was kicking off, they could milk the clock by intentionally running offsides and then re-kicking. They could run 10-15 seconds off the clock each play while taking just five-yard penalties each time. They could run the clock down and simply cause the half (or game) to end on a kickoff, keeping the opposing offense off the field. In 2007, the clock will now start when the returner touches the ball as it had before last season.

2) The second rule dealt with starting the clock after a change of online football betting possession rather than waiting until the ball was snapped. This took a lot of time off the clock throughout the game as teams changed possession, however it caused the most problems late in games (or halves). Rather than huddling up and calling a play, the offensive team would have to rush onto the field as the clock started. This was a definite disadvantage to a team that was trying to come from behind late in the game. This year the clock will start on a change of possession, after the ball is snapped.

How did those rules affect the college game last year and will it make a difference this year when it comes to the pointspread? We commonly heard two theories when it came to these changes. First, it would affect scoring negatively. Second, it would hurt favorites as they would have less time and fewer plays to cover the number.

Did the rules hurt scoring? Yes. It seemed obvious that shortening the game by what amounted to 14 plays would push scoring downward. That was the case last year. Of the 119 Division 1A teams, 69 squads scored fewer points in 2007 than they did in 2005. Just 48 teams had a higher PPG scoring average and two stayed the same. Almost 59 percent of the teams in college football last year had a lower PPG average than they did in 2005. Expect more scoring in 2007 as we revert back to the old rules.

Did the rules hinder favorites from covering the number in 2007? Not really. Last year the favorites posted an overall spread record of 336-350-16 (48.9 percent). The year before, favorites were 316-326-13 (49.2 percent). In 2004, the favorites were 316-339-2 (48.2 percent). In fact, college football favorites have been above 50 percent for the season just once in the last seven years (in 2003). Last year’s numbers fell right in line with where they have been historically.

How about big favorites? The rules must have hurt them? Maybe a little bit. Double-digit favorites last year came in at a 47.8 percent clip compare with an average of just over 50 percent over the last seven years. Since 1980, favorites of -10 or more have covered at exactly a 50 percent clip (measured over 6,716 games).

Even bigger favorites must have struggled? Not really. In fact, it was just the opposite. Favorites of three TD’s or more were 59-54-2 last year (52.2 percent). Since 2000, those same favorites (-21 or higher) hit at 51.3 percent and since 1990 came in a clip of 50.3 percent. Stepping it up a notch to four TD favorites or higher, we actually see they've covered at a much better rate last season than before. Last year, favorites of -28 or more were 31-21-1, or almost 60 percent. Historically, four-TD-or-higher favorites have come in at a 50.7 percent spot since 2000 and only 48.9 percent since 1990. The “perceived” problem with the favorites covering at a reduced rate really never came to fruition.

Bottom line is, there might be some more scoring in 2007, but no real revelations when it comes to finding any pointspread golden nuggets.

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