Caps aim for first home win of March against Hurricanes

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03/14/2009 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Capitals have been one of the NHL's best home teams this season, but they have yet to find any success on their own ice during the month of March.

The Southeast Division leaders will try to break a four-game home losing streak when the playoff-hopeful Carolina Hurricanes skate into the Verizon Center this evening.

Washington's home skid began with a 6-2 defeat to fellow division member Florida on March 1 and continued with a 5-2 setback to the Hurricanes two nights later. The Caps would go on to lose twice more on the residency before getting back on track with a pair of recent road wins.

After downing Nashville in overtime on Tuesday, Washington rode an outstanding performance from goaltender Jose Theodore to a 2-1 triumph over Philadelphia Thursday at the Wachovia Center.

Theodore turned aside 35-of-36 shots, including all nine chances he faced in the third period to protect the one-goal lead. Alex Ovechkin put the Capitals ahead when he scored his league-leading 48th goal of the season late in the second frame.

Alexander Semin set up Ovechkin's tally to extend his scoring streak to eight games. The Russian forward has totaled six goals and six assists over that stretch.

Despite their struggles at home as of late, the Capitals still sport an excellent 25-9-2 record at the Verizon Center this season. Following tonight's tilt, the team will embark on a five-game road trip beginning Monday in Atlanta.

Carolina concludes a three-game trek tonight in which it has lost the first two tests. Both defeats came by a single goal, as the Hurricanes fell in a shootout to Chicago on Wednesday and came out on the short end of a 3-2 decision at Dallas the following night.

The Hurricanes had won four in a row prior to the Chicago game and are in the thick of a heated Eastern Conference playoff race. The club is presently tied with the New York Rangers for the final two postseason berths, but ninth-place Florida is lurking only one point behind both teams. Carolina also trails Pittsburgh by just one point for the No. 6 seed in the East.

Cam Ward made 28 saves in Thursday's 3-2 loss to the Stars, but allowed all three Dallas goals within a nine-minute span in the second period.

Hurricanes captain Rod Brind'Amour had a short-handed goal along with an assist on the evening and now has compiled seven points (4 goals, 3 assists) during a five-game scoring streak.

Carolina, which is 12 points in back of the Capitals in the Southeast standings, is 17-15-5 on the road for the season. The Hurricanes will embark on a three-game homestand, culminating with a March 21 meeting against Washington, after tonight's matchup.

These divisional foes have split four previous encounters this season, but the Hurricanes have lost in four of their last six visits to Washington.

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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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