Devils try to extend domination of Penguins

Hockey Betting Lines

03/17/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A huge battle in the Atlantic Division race is on tap tonight in Newark, pitting the host New Jersey Devils against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Prudential Center.

The Penguins, of course, are the defending Stanley Cup champions and come into tonight with a two-point edge over the Devils for the division lead. New Jersey, however, won the Atlantic title last season and has taken the crown in three of the past four years.

The Atlantic lead also comes with the inside track on the second seed in the Eastern Conference playoff race. With 87 points, Pittsburgh is 16 behind Washington for the top spot and five points ahead of third-seeded Buffalo.

The Devils should be comforted by the fact that they have absolutely dominated Pittsburgh this season and could sweep the season series tonight. New Jersey has outscored the Pens by a 17-3 margin over the five matchups this year and posted a 3-1 victory when the clubs met in Newark last week. Ilya Kovalchuk notched a goal and two assists and Martin Brodeur stopped 34 shots to lead the Devils in that victory.

New Jersey has taken six of seven and eight of 11 overall in the series, while Pittsburgh has dropped three straight and four of its last five in the Garden State.

The Pens also come into tonight with an injury concern to a major point producer in forward Evgeni Malkin, who suffered a foot injury after getting hit with a shot in Sunday's win over Tampa Bay. An X-ray revealed that Malkin, who has 69 points this season, suffered no broken bones, but he is still questionable for tonight.

Pittsburgh captain and leading scorer Sidney Crosby also twisted his right leg on Sunday, but was able to return later in the game. Crosby practiced on Tuesday, but Malkin did not.

"Geno is day-to-day." Pens head coach Dan Bylsma said of Malkin on Tuesday. "He's going with us tomorrow."

The Devils have split two games since Friday's meeting with Pittsburgh, beating visiting Boston in a close regulation decision on Monday. Zach Parise scored the eventual game-winner late in the first period, leading the Devils to the 3-2 victory at the Rock.

David Clarkson had a goal and an assist for the Devils, who have won three of their last four outings. Rob Niedermayer also lit the lamp and Brodeur made 34 saves.

"As a team were starting to mold and that's when it gets exciting," Clarkson said. "This is when you're going into war. This is the playoffs coming up. I believe we have a group of guys that I would take everyone of them with me."

The Devils have won their last four games on home ice and come into tonight with a superb 23-9-1 record as the host this year.

Meanwhile, Pittsburgh comes into tonight with a 1-1-1 record so far on a five- game road trip that ends Thursday in Boston. Overall, the Pens have a strong 20-13-2 record as the guest, but they have lost four of six away from the Steel City.

The Penguins have played only Sunday's game in Tampa since losing to the Devils. Sergei Gonchar notched the game-winning score early in the third period to lift Pittsburgh to the 2-1 decision over the Lightning.

Pascal Dupuis also tallied for the Penguins, who snapped a two-game slide and won for the fifth time in seven games. Marc-Andre Fleury made 21 saves in the victory,

"It's one of those games where they are battling for the playoffs and they played like they wanted it," Dupuis said of Sunday's win. "We came out not expecting that, we had a big push early in the third to win the game."

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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.

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