Murray goes for win No. 600 as Senators host Oilers

Hockey Betting Lines

02/20/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two teams headed in different directions face off tonight at Ottawa's Scotiabank Place, where the Senators wrap up a three-game homestand with a matchup against the slumping Edmonton Oilers.

Ottawa has won the first two games of this home stretch and four in a row overall. The team's latest victory came via the comeback variety, as the Senators scored three times in the third period to erase a one-goal deficit in Saturday's 5-3 triumph over Atlanta.

Mike Comrie tied the contest at 3-3 midway through the final frame and Dean McAmmond netted the go-ahead goal with 4:20 left to play. Mike Fisher would seal the win with an empty-net tally with under a minute to go.

Chris Kelly added a goal and an assist for Ottawa, while Jason Spezza and Daniel Alfredsson each finished with a pair of assists. Martin Gerber put forth a solid performance between the pipes, stopping 28-of-31 chances on the night.

Gerber started his second consecutive game in place of No. 1 netminder Ray Emery, who will serve the final contest of a three-game suspension tonight. Emery received the penalty for slashing Montreal's Maxim Lapierre on February 10.

A victory by the Senators tonight would give head coach Bryan Murray 600 career wins. Only four coaches in league history -- Scotty Bowman, Al Arbour, Dick Irvin and Pat Quinn -- have previously reached that milestone.

Fisher and teammate Peter Schaefer have each recorded a point in five straight games, with both players having notched three goals and two assists during that span.

The Senators own an 18-11-2 home mark for the season and have won three consecutive outings at Scotiabank Place. Following tonight's tilt, Ottawa will begin a crucial home-and-home series with Northeast Division rival Buffalo on Thursday.

Edmonton is at the midway point of a seven-game road trip that has not yielded much success thus far. After opening the trek with a shutout loss at Boston and an overtime defeat to Buffalo, the Oilers were handed a 4-3 defeat by Toronto Saturday at the Air Canada Centre.

Marc Pouliot, Steve Staios and Ryan Smyth all tallied for Edmonton while goaltender Dwayne Roloson ended with 31 saves.

With their postseason hopes fading, the Oilers made a trade in hopes of improving their future on Sunday. The club shipped defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron to the New York Islanders in exchange for 23-year-old blueliner Denis Grebeshkov.

Grebeshkov, a former first-round pick of Los Angeles, appeared in 21 games for the Islanders in 2005-06 but is currently playing in his native Russia.

Edmonton currently stands eight points behind Minnesota for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

The Oilers will be visiting Ottawa for the first time since the teams fought to a 3-3 tie on November 6, 2003. In the lone meeting between the clubs last season, the Senators came through with a 5-3 win in Edmonton.

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Owens broke the bone leading to his right ring finger Sunday night and had a plate surgically attached to it Monday. Although Owens' hand was swollen and aching Wednesday, Dallas Cowboys coach Bill Parcells said he's optimistic the receiver will be back at work next week and catching passes a week from Sunday against the Tennessee Titans.

MySportsbook.com online sportsbook listed Terrell Owens with odds of 7-2 (or $7 paid out for every $2 bet) to return back for the game against Tennessee.

"I certainly wouldn't rule it out now," Parcells said, referring to Terrell Owens immediate return. "Maybe five days from now I might, but I wouldn't rule it out now. ... I know we're looking to try to get him moving around pretty good in the next day or so. So we'll see where we are."

Owens did not speak with reporters Wednesday, but said Sunday he'd be out two to four weeks. A return against the Titans would be 13 days after the surgery. The Cowboys were listed as an early -7 1/2 favorite vs. the Tennessee Titans for Week 4 at MySportsbook.com

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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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