Rangers brace for test from high-powered Caps

Hockey Betting Lines

03/06/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After struggling to keep the opposition off the scoreboard their most recent time out, the New York Rangers now have to face the NHL's most potent offense in tonight's showdown with the powerful Washington Capitals from the Verizon Center.

The Rangers were peppered with 55 shots in Thursday's 5-4 overtime loss to reigning Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh at Madison Square Garden, yet still managed to earn an important point due to a career-best 50 saves from goaltender Henrik Lundqvist.

Lundqvist turned aside 18-of-19 chances during a third period in which the Rangers mustered only a single shot on goal, but the Swedish standout was unable to come up with Evgeni Malkin's blast on a 4-on-3 power play with 1:18 remaining in the extra session."

"Hank was outstanding and gave us an opportunity," New York head coach John Tortorella. "At the end of the night, we grabbed a point out of here. Although it is an ugly one, it is a point."

The Rangers had won three in a row prior to Thursday's setback and are engaged in a heated battle for the final few postseason berths in the Eastern Conference. New York presently sits in a tie with both Atlanta and Montreal for eighth place in the standings and is just one point back of Boston for the No. 7 spot.

Lundqvist figures to face another stern challenge tonight, as the Capitals' 251 goals this season is 46 more than second-place Chicago among NHL clubs and the team has scored five times or more in six of its last eight contests, including a 6-5 triumph over the Rangers on February 4 in which Lundqvist stopped just 26-of-32 shots.

Washington kept up its offensive prowess in Thursday's 5-4 decision over Tampa Bay at the Verizon Center, with both Mike Knuble and recently-acquired Scott Walker each lighting the lamp twice to lead the Caps to their second straight win following the Olympic break.

Walker, who came over from Carolina during Wednesday's trade deadline, had scored only three times in 33 games with the Hurricanes this season. It was the 36-year-old grinder's first multi-goal effort since March 2, 2007.

"I'm just excited to be here and get the two points for the team," he said afterward.

Walker was one of four players brought in by Washington to bolster the Eastern Conference front-runners for the upcoming postseason. Center Eric Belanger and defenseman Joe Corvo also participated in Thursday's win after being acquired from Minnesota and Carolina, respectively. The Caps also landed defenseman Milan Jurcina from Columbus on Wednesday, but the 6-foot-4, 230-pound Slovak will miss at least a month due to a sports hernia.

Mike Green notched two assists for Washington on Thursday to extend his personal point streak to seven games. The All-Star defenseman has recorded three goals and eight helpers over that time.

The Rangers hope the anticipated return of star sniper Marian Gaborik will help enable them to keep pace with the high-scoring Capitals. The dangerous right wing, who ranks fifth in the NHL with 35 goals this season, sat out New York's first two tilts following the Olympic break after sustaining a groin injury while competing for Slovakia at the Vancouver Games.

Gaborik has four goals and two assists over the three previous meetings between the teams this season, two of which have been won by Washington. The Capitals are 7-1-1 over their last nine regular-season matchups with the Rangers, and New York has been dealt losses in four of its five most recent non-playoff visits to the Verizon Center.

The Rangers did post a 4-3 victory in their latest trip to Washington, though, with Gaborik tallying twice in that October 8 win.

Wwwisfa Hockey Betting News

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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.