Brodeur sets record on championship night for Devils

Hockey Betting Lines

04/06/2007 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Martin Brodeur used 34 saves to break the all-time mark for wins in a single season and Jim Dowd scored the short-handed game-winner midway through the third period, as the New Jersey Devils clinched the Atlantic Division title with a 3-2 win over Philadelphia.

Brodeur secured his 48th win of 2006-07 and in the process broke the record that was formerly held by longtime Flyers goaltender Bernie Parent.

The Devils, who are now division champions for the seventh time in the last 10 seasons, won their second consecutive game under the guidance of new head coach Lou Lamoriello. The Devils' general manager and face of the organization also coached 50 games last season and led the team on an amazing run in the second half of the campaign. On Monday, head coach Claude Julien was unexpectedly fired.

Jamie Langenbrunner and Sergei Brylin also scored for the Devils, who will finish their regular season on Sunday afternoon at home against the Islanders before they host the first two postseason games versus a yet-to-be-determined opponent. If victorious in the first round, New Jersey would also host any opponent in the next round as well.

The Devils attained their 49th win of the season Thursday, eclipsing the franchise-record from 1997-98 and 2000-01.

Jeff Carter and Simon Gagne scored for the Flyers, who with 54 points are dangerously close to finishing this season with the worst mark in franchise history (58 points in 1969-70). With two weekend home games remaining in the regular season, Philly would need to win both games just to tie the franchise- worst mark.

With the score tied 2-2 midway through the third period, Dowd's short-handed tally gave the Devils the lead for good. The Flyers skated with the man advantage due to a hooking penalty to forward Scott Gomez, but a turnover led to a 2-on-1 rush. Brylin carried the disc down the right-wing side and sent a saucer pass over the stick of Alexandre Picard before a one-timer from the left circle by Dowd beat Martin Biron with 11:14 remaining in regulation.

Brodeur stopped all 13 shots he faced in the final stanza and the Devils defense thwarted most of the potential Philadelphia scoring chances the rest of the way, as the Devils surrounded Brodeur and celebrated both his new record and another division crown.

The Flyers opened the scoring on Carter's 14th goal of the season, 1:05 after the opening faceoff. The puck sat in the crease after a wraparound attempt by Scottie Upshall at the left post and Carter poked in home from the top of the crease during a scramble in front of the net.

In the latter stages of the first stanza, the visitors tied the contest with a power-play goal. With Sami Kapanen in the penalty box for holding, the Devils worked the puck around the perimeter before Langenbrunner held control at the right point. The veteran forward then inched in from the blue line and released a slap shot that made its way through traffic and into the back of the cage.

With 13:23 to go in second period, it appeared Philadelphia had possibly taken the lead. Upshall skated in alone on a clear breakaway and lifted a backhander that sailed into the pads of Brodeur, who fell back into the net. The referee lost sight of the puck and it was not clear if it had crossed the goal line while Brodeur covered it. A review of the play confirmed the no-goal call that was originally made on the ice.

However several minutes later, Gagne's 39th goal midway through the period did in fact put the Flyers in front. Picard spun around at the centerpoint and released a slap shot that was deflected by Gagne atop the left circle and it flew past Brodeur at the 9:27 mark.

A very similar deflection goal brought New Jersey even at 2-2 with over five minutes remaining before the second intermission. Skating 5-on-4, the Devils converted on the power play again via Brylin's 16th goal. Geoff Sanderson was whistled for hooking and blueliner Andy Greene's shot from the right side beneath the blue line was redirected home beautifully by Brylin from the slot.

Game Notes

Vancouver goaltender Roberto Luongo currently has 46 wins with three games remaining...Biron ended with 30 saves...For Gagne, it was his 199th career goal and the 500th game of his career...Parent's mark of 47 victories occurred during the Flyers' Stanley Cup title season of 1973-74...The Devils won the season series 7-1 and have captured 10 of their last 11 games overall against the rival Flyers...NJ finished 2-for-6 on the power play and held the Flyers scoreless on their four chances with the extra skater...Attendance was 19,177.

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Huskers' Lucky hospitalized for undisclosed reason

LINCOLN, Neb. -- Nebraska running back Marlon Lucky was hospitalized Monday for undisclosed reasons after Lincoln police responded to a call at his residence.

The Nebraska athletic department said in a release Monday that Lucky was admitted Sunday night.

MySportsbook.com has the Cornhuskers listed at +2500 to win the BCS National Championship odds.

A nursing supervisor at the hospital said all questions about Lucky were being referred to the athletic department. The athletic department said there would be no further comment from the department or Lucky's family.

A Lincoln Police spokesman said officers responded to a call at Lucky's residence 11:30 p.m. Sunday. The spokesman said he didn't know Lucky's condition at the time he was taken to the hospital.

Lucky, from North Hollywood, Calif., started six games last season as a sophomore and was the team's second-leading rusher, with 728 yards and six touchdowns. He also caught 32 passes for 383 yards. He averaged 19.1 yards on eight kickoff returns.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.

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.