Bieska, Canucks edge Kings

Hockey Betting Lines

02/23/2007 - Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kevin Bieksa scored the game-winning goal to lead the Vancouver Canucks over the Los Angeles Kings, 3-2, at Staples Center.

Brendan Morrison and Trevor Linden also tallied, and Markus Naslund had a pair of helpers for the Canucks, who have won six straight games. Roberto Luongo made 31 saves for Vancouver.

John Zeiler and Lubomir Visnovsky scored for the Kings, who have dropped three of their last five contests. Mathieu Garon surrendered three goals on 30 shots faced for Los Angeles.

With the game tied at 2-2 in the third, Josh Green fed Naslund in the right corner. Naslund then found some empty ice before moving towards the net and flipping the puck into the slot, where Bieksa corraled the disc and flipped it into the top corner of the net with 3:56 left in the game.

The tally came on just the third shot Vancouver could muster in the stanza, as Los Angeles dominated in shots on goal, which stood at 13-4 at the time of the tally.

"We were doing a relatively good job cycling, especially Naslund's line," said Bieksa. "They were doing a good job all game keeping the puck down low. I just saw an opening and it was a great read by Naslund to find me in the slot and get a quick shot on net."

The Kings pulled Garon in favor of an extra attacker with less than a minute remaining, but couldn't convert on the man-advantage.

Los Angeles opened the scoring 10 minutes in, as Zeiler collected his first career NHL goal. Vancouver had a chance at the other end, but Garon blocked a shot by Daniel Sedin and the Kings stormed the other way in a two-on-two rush. Tom Kostopoulos was quickly cut off by a pair of defensemen, but not before getting the puck to Zeiler, who was left all alone to take the pass and beat Luongo through the five-hole to make it 1-0.

Morrison netted the equalizer on the man-advantage with 3:48 remaining in the first period. Tommy Salo sent a slap shot wide of the net and the puck ricocheted off the end-boards and right to Morrison, who wristed the disc into a wide open net to make it 1-1 heading to the second.

The Canucks jumped out to a 2-1 edge in the middle stanza, as Linden used a burst of speed to cross the blue line before cutting through the defense and snapping the puck past Garon off the inside of the far post at 1:34.

The Kings once again evened things up with a power-play marker, however, as Michael Cammalleri kicked the puck through the crease, where it caromed off a bunch of skates and right to Visnovsky, who flipped the disc over a diving Luongo with five minutes remaining in the period.

"I didn't think it was a well played game, especially with us taking way too many penalties, but it's another win and you have to be happy with that," said Naslund. "We do have a lot of confidence right now. I think it's a good sign when you're winning even when you're not playing your best."

Game Notes

Vancouver was 1-for-5 on the power play, while Los Angeles converted on just one of its eight chances...It was the 12th time this season the Canucks have had to kill eight or more power plays in a game...Vancouver is 11-1-1 on the road since December 26.

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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.