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03/12/2010 - Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Vinny Prospal had two goals and an assist as the New York Rangers took a 5-2 decision over the Atlanta Thrashers in a battle between playoff contenders.
Marian Gaborik had a goal and two assists while Ryan Callahan added a goal and an assist for the Rangers, who stopped a four-game slide. Henrik Lundqvist stopped 29 shots in the win.
The win moves New York to 69 points, three back of idle Boston for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
Clarke MacArthur and Ron Hainsey each had a goal for the Thrashers, who have dropped their past five games. Johan Hedberg stopped 30-of-34 shots in the loss.
The losing streak has dropped Atlanta to the 11th spot in the Eastern Conference with 66 points, two below Tampa Bay, which won at Washington earlier Friday.
The Rangers dominated play in the first period and scored three times in the frame.
The first goal came 7:49 in as Prospal accepted a long feed from Gaborik and at the left circle blasted a slap shot past Hedberg and just 41 seconds later, Gaborik scored on the power play for his 36th goal and a 2-0 lead.
Prospal notched his second goal of the period on a wrister with 6:34 left for the 3-0 advantage.
Atlanta got on the board 2:33 into the second with a power-play tally as a crisp passing play was finished when Rich Peverley fired a pass from the left to the right where MacArthur one-timed it home.
New York, though, got the goal back with 2:28 to play in the second as Michael Del Zotto's wrister from the point snuck past Hedberg.
The Thrashers cut the deficit to two with 8:34 to play in the third on the power play as Chris Thorburn fired a pass from the right circle to the slot where a wide open Hainesy wristed it home.
Atlanta got a chance to make it a one-goal game a few minutes later when Jody Shelley was called for hooking, but Lundqvist made a couple big stops to keep it a two-goal contest.
The Thrashers pulled Hedberg late for the extra attacker, but Callahan sealed the win with a shot into the empty cage.
Game Notes
New York hosts Philly on Sunday...Atlanta continues its five-game homestand on Sunday against Phoenix...Atlanta had won the previous five matchups, including the first three games of this season series...Atlanta has scored just six goals over its losing streak...New York went 2-for-6 on the power play while Atlanta was 1-for-4.
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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.
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:
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 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.
Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:
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.
To visit this internet sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting and World Series odds.
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