Bruins aim to end home slide versus Maple Leafs

Hockey Betting Lines

03/04/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A Boston Bruins team that hasn't won in their home building in more than two months will host one of the NHL's worst road clubs in 2009-10 when the Toronto Maple Leafs head to TD Garden tonight for a Northeast Division clash.

Boston is 0-7-3 over its last 10 outings as the host, its longest home losing streak since a franchise-record 11-game slide from December 8, 1924-February 17, 1925. The Bruins' most recent victory in Beantown occurred at Fenway Park on New Year's Day, a 2-1 triumph over Philadelphia in the Winter Classic, and they last prevailed at home against Atlanta on December 30.

The Bruins' latest setback at the Garden took place on Tuesday, when rival Montreal erupted for four third-period goals to come away with a 4-1 decision.

Marco Sturm gave Boston a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal in the first period, but the Bruins came up empty on two chances with the man advantage in the second and were outshot by a 14-7 margin over the fateful final 20 minutes.

"I think we kind of sneaked out with a goal after the first," said Bruins forward Marc Savard. "It wasn't our best period. In the second, especially myself, we got a little cute when we had chances to score. I should have shot a lot. We should have pulled ahead in the second."

Tuukka Rask finished with 28 saves for Boston, which had won four straight road games prior to the Olympic break and is presently tied with the New York Rangers for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with 65 points, one behind the seventh-place Canadiens.

The Bruins did a little roster shuffling prior to Wednesday's trade deadline in hopes of furthering their postseason hopes. The team dealt veteran defenseman Derek Morris to Phoenix in exchange for a fourth-round selection in the 2011 draft, then acquired blueliner Dennis Seidenberg from Florida in a four-player swap that sent winger Byron Bitz to the Panthers.

Seidenberg, who competed for Germany in the just-completed Winter Olympics, compiled two goals and 21 assists with Florida and is three years younger than the 31-year-old Morris, who had three goals in 22 assists in his only season with the Bruins. Both players are set to become unrestricted free agents at season's end.

The Maple Leafs stand last in the East with a meager 49 points and have spent the past two days cleaning house, trading away two of their top forwards in Alexei Ponikarovsky and Lee Stempniak in separate deals.

Ponikarovsky, tied for second among Toronto players with 41 points (19 goals, 22 assists), was shipped to Pittsburgh Tuesday night for defenseman Martin Skoula and prospect Luca Caputi. Stempniak, who had 14 goals and 16 assists in 62 games, went to Phoenix for fourth and seventh-round picks in 2010.

The Leafs subsequently traded Skoula to New Jersey for a fifth-round draft choice on Wednesday. Caputi, a 21-year-old Toronto native who scored 51 goals in the junior ranks a few years back, is expected to join his new team for tonight's tilt.

Toronto is coming off a 5-1 home loss to resurgent Carolina on Tuesday in its first game following the NHL's hiatus. The defeat was the Maple Leafs' 10th in their past 12 contests (2-8-2).

"We had a few good chances, but we were so bad in other areas," said Toronto head coach Ron Wilson. "If you're not competing hard enough defensively, you won't get rewarded at the other end."

The Leafs start up a three-game road trip tonight and will try to improve upon a poor 8-18-6 record as the guest. Toronto, which has lost its last six away tests, has also been dealt defeats in each of its last four trips to TD Garden, with two of those losses taking place this season.

Boston had defeated the Maple Leafs seven straight times before Toronto's 2-0 win at the Air Canada Centre on December 19.

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MySportsbook.com: New College Football Clock Rules Examined

Coaches and bettors alike are desperate to make sense of the new time-keeping rules on the NCAA gridiron. One of the big stories to come out of the Ohio State-Texas clash last weekend was Texas coach Mack Brown's criticism of the NCAA's new clock rules that are intended to shorten the duration of college football games, therefore affecting college football betting.

"They scored with six minutes left and the game was over before we had a chance to do anything," Brown told ESPN.com. "I really hope whoever made these changes will go back and look them over."

Sure, it might be sour grapes; the Buckeyes thoroughly trounced the defending national champion Longhorns 24-7. However, Brown isn't alone in giving the changes their due thought. Bettors are also wondering about them, albeit for a completely different reason. Most experts agree that the changes will result in games being shortened by anywhere from 10 to 20 plays. The obvious consequence is lower scores, with more time rolling off the clock during changes of possession. (The Ohio State-Texas game flew well under the total of 52.)

According to research at the online sportsbook MySportsbook.com, more than 18 plays a game disappeared last weekend into thin air. That's a 10-percent reduction. In 2005, a typical game had 168.58 plays. For 2007 already, it's down to 150.26.

As a result, teams combined to gain an average of about 100 fewer yards a game last weekend versus the 2005 openers. Scoring was also down by about 4.5 points (attention Las Vegas sports lines).

Of course, oddsmakers were able to adjust to the changes before the season started. Proof of that came as the over went a balanced 8-9 at My Sportsbook on Saturday.

Other angles to consider:A shorter game should theoretically result in shorter lines. Whereas Team A might have been a 14-point favorite in a 168-play game (last year), if there are 10 percent less snaps in 2007, the line should also be reduced by 10 percent (to 13 or 12.5). Of course, this is an over-simplification of the matter, but something to keep in mind.
Less possessions means a better chance the game will be decided by three or seven points. For example, what might have been a 20-10 final score in 2005 may end at

17-10 in 2007. Granted, a 24-17 game last year might end at 21-17 these days, but the former - a three- or seven-point advantage being preserved as opposed to created - is the most likely scenario.

*UPDATE* - Sept. 25, 2007

New Clock Rules Boon for online bookmakers

By adjusting the time-keeping rules to shorten the duration of college football games, the NCAA hoped to make its product more enjoyable for the fans. While the NCAA's success in this regard is still up for debate, bookmakers couldn't be happier with the results.

"We are seeing a massive jump in college football betting," noted the MySportsbook.com management team. "With all the early Saturday games (12 a.m. ET) ending before the second wave begins (3:30 p.m. ET) - something that didn't always happen before the changes - bettors are now able to re-invest their winnings from the morning session in the afternoon games."

While not all bettors will choose to roll over their winnings, it doesn't take much for an impact to be seen on the bottom line. "Not all of the millions of dollars in morning payouts get re-bet. In fact, it's probably only 10 to 20 percent," noted the sportsbook management team. "Still, the increased football betting lines window will create a ton of growth for us over the course of the season."

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