Flyers down Penguins in high-scoring affair
Hockey Betting Lines
01/07/2010 - Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jeff Carter and James van Riemsdyk each posted a pair of goals as Philadelphia outlasted Pittsburgh, 7-4, at Mellon Arena.
Matt Carle posted a goal and two assists while Mike Richards and Chris Pronger added a goal and a helper each for the Flyers, who improved to 6-1-1 in their last eight games.
Despite yielding four goals, Michael Leighton proved strong in net by stopping 35 shots for his career-best seventh win of the season.
Sidney Crosby tallied twice and Michael Rupp also scored for the Penguins, who slid to their sixth defeat in seven games and allowed a season-high in goals.
Marc-Andre Fleury surrendered four goals on 15 shots through less than 22 minutes in defeat. Brent Johnson subbed for the remainder of the contest and allowed two goals on 15 shots.
Carter boosted the Flyers to a 6-3 lead, wristing home a shot off a 3-on-2 rush just prior to the midway point of the third period, but Rupp picked the left corner with 7:52 to play for a two-goal contest.
Johnson was pulled for an extra skater with 1:01 left and Leighton survived two close calls at his end before Richards iced the game on an empty netter with 31.3 seconds remaining.
Carter's spinning wrister in the slot beat Fleury over the shoulder for a power-play score and 1-0 Philly lead at 6:39. It was 2-0 only 31 seconds later when Arron Asham fed van Riemsdyk for a breakaway backhander.
Crosby halved the Penguins deficit at 8:25 with a blistering slap shot in the high slot, but Carle's power-play blast restored the Flyers' two-goal edge at 16:51.
Matt Cooke, though, brought the Pens within one inside the final minute when his chance squeaked through Leighton's pads.
Pronger's point shot snuck past Fleury for a 4-2 game at 1:42 of the second period and Fleury was pulled for Johnson -- who was beaten on the first shot he faced, another backhander from van Riemsdyk at 2:56.
Crosby's wraparound goal with 9:28 left in the second made it 5-3, then Simon Gagne appeared to have registered a short-handed stuffer with 2:53 remaining, but review determined the puck didn't cross the goal line.
Pittsburgh didn't convert on the advantage and the visitors led by two after 40 minutes.
Game Notes
The Flyers hadn't scored as many goals in Pittsburgh since a 7-5 triumph on January 3, 1984...Philly has won two of the last three games in the Steel City after dropping the previous five in a row...The Penguins missed defenseman Sergei Gonchar with an unknown injury...Leighton had won six games twice, in 2003-04 with Chicago and last season in Carolina...Carle hadn't scored a goal since October 31...Crosby recorded his seventh multi-goal game of the season and first since December 3.
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What Is the Point Spread?
What are Sports Betting Point Spreads?
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.
How to Read Point Spreads
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:
- Philly wins the actual game by any amount of points
OR
- Philly loses the game by less than 7 points.
-
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.
For Those Who Like to Consider Things Mathematically
Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:
- Subtracting the point spread from the favorite’s score (thus the minus sign before the number) and then compare to the underdog’s score
OR
- Adding the point spread to the underdog’s score (thus the plus sign before the number) and then compare to the favorite’s score
Who Really “Won” the Super Bowl odds ?
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.
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