Avs shoot for season sweep of Kings
Hockey Betting Lines
02/22/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Last night, the Kings found the offense they have been so sorely lacking but it still resulted in a third straight loss.
Los Angeles looks to rebound this evening and avoid a season series sweep at the hands of the hosting Colorado Avalanche.
The Kings' struggles with scoring have been well documented this season, with the club ranking dead last in the NHL with 124 goals. They have been shut out eight times on the season, including consecutive 1-0 setbacks going into last night's meeting at Phoenix.
Los Angeles looked to have blasted out of its funk after getting goals from Drew Doughty, Andrei Loktionov and Dustin Brown in the game's first 15 minutes, but some poor discipline ultimately resulted in a 5-4 shootout loss.
The Kings, who also got a goal from Justin Williams, allowed a pair of power- play goals early in the second and also saw Phoenix net the game-tying goal while up a man after winger Kyle Clifford was whistled for a game misconduct for a shot to the head of the Coyotes' Gilbert Brule.
Brown tied the shootout in the second round, but Mikkel Boedker responded by beating Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick and Jack Johnson missed the net as the final skater.
Quick ended with 25 saves as the Kings lost for the fifth time in six games.
"When you give up three power-play goals on the road, you're going to have a tough time winning," Kings head coach Daryl Sutter said.
Though Los Angeles will be trying to avoid its longest losing streak since a five-game skid from Dec. 3-13, the point earned last night did give it sole possession of eighth place in the Western Conference. The Kings moved one ahead of the Flames, while the Avalanche sit four back of the final playoff position.
Colorado can close the gap this evening with its first season series sweep of Los Angeles since relocating from Quebec. The Avalanche had lost seven of eight to the Kings, including getting swept in the four-game series last year, before outscoring Los Angeles 8-4 in the three meetings this year.
The Avs snapped a three-game home losing streak to the Kings with a 3-2 win back on Oct. 30 and should have a bit of a tougher edge tonight after acquiring forward Steve Downie from the Lightning on Tuesday for defenseman Kyle Quincey.
Downie had 12 goals, 28 points and 121 penalty minutes in 55 games with Tampa Bay this year and logged 14 points in 17 playoff games last season in the Lightning's march to the Eastern Conference finals.
"Our organization believes that Steve Downie will add grit and skill to our lineup offensively," said Avalanche general manager and executive vice president Greg Sherman. "He plays the game with an edge and we look forward to seeing the immediate and future impact he can bring to our team."
Colorado made the move days after a 5-1 loss in Winnipeg, its third loss in four games.
"Overall, we just weren't good enough tonight in all areas of the game. I don't think we had everybody here on deck tonight," Avalanche head coach Joe Sacco said.
Gabriel Landeskog lit the lamp for Colorado and Semyon Varlamov allowed all five goals on 25 shots to take the loss.
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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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