Sabres, Leafs clash in Toronto

Hockey Betting Lines

02/27/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Buffalo Sabres will look to rebound from an emotional weekend when they battle the Toronto Maple Leafs this evening at the Air Canada Centre.

Buffalo wrapped up a high energy home-and-home series on Saturday with Ottawa, a series that saw Chris Drury go down to injury, head coach Lindy Ruff get fined and the two clubs split a pair of high-scoring games.

It all started last Thursday in the Sabres' 6-5 shootout win over the Senators in Buffalo when Ottawa's Chris Neil put a vicious hit on Drury that caused the star center to hit the ice hard and sustain a cut to his forehead that required 20 stitches to close.

Drury is out indefinitely due to his laceration and concussion-like symptoms. He now joins an extended roster of injured Sabres, a list that includes forwards Ales Kotalik (sprained MCL in right knee), Daniel Paille (broken finger) and Maxim Afinogenov (left wrist surgery), and defenseman Jaroslav Spacek (broken left hand).

An all-out brawl ensued moments after the hit that included all 10 skaters on the ice and both goaltenders -- Buffalo's Martin Biron and Ottawa's Ray Emery. Heated words were also exchanged between Ruff and Ottawa head coach Bryan Murray.

After the contest, Ruff admitted to sending out his enforcers and was fined $10,000 for his actions.

The two clubs then met on Saturday with Ottawa posting a 6-5 win over Buffalo. The game was calmer than what could have been expected and only featured a pair of fights in the second period as well as some scattered roughing and unsportsmanlike conduct calls.

Henrik Tallinder recorded his first two-goal NHL game for the Eastern Conference-leading Sabres, who lost for just the second time in their last eight. Thomas Vanek had a goal and an assist, Drew Stafford and Daniel Briere notched a pair of assists each, while Jason Pominville and Derek Roy also tallied.

Briere extended his points streak to six games in the loss. He has four goals and six assists in that span.

Martin Biron stopped 12-of-16 shots before exiting the game. Ryan Miller was saddled with the loss despite giving up two goals on 21 shots in relief.

Buffalo is a solid 19-9-2 on the road this season. The Sabres will host Montreal on Friday.

The Maple Leafs were in Montreal on Monday and were handed a 5-4 defeat by the Canadiens. Bates Battaglia and Bryan McCabe each tallied a goal and an assist for the Maple Leafs, who have dropped three of four.

Andrew Raycroft stopped only 11-of-16 shots in the loss for Toronto, which sits in 10th place in the Eastern Conference, two points out of a playoff spot. Jean-Sebastien Aubin relieved Raycroft late in the second period and turned aside all eight shots he faced.

Toronto is 12-13-5 at home this season and will travel to New Jersey on Friday.

Toronto and Buffalo have split four meetings so far this season, though the Sabres have won four of the last six and seven of the last 10.

Wsbgglobal Hockey Betting News

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Penguins acquire veteran F Roberts >>
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Isles welcome lowly Flyers to the Coliseum >>
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Lightning and Stars collide in Tampa >>
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Pacers welcome Suns to Indy >>
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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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