Habs welcome Rangers to Bell Centre

Hockey Betting Lines

01/23/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Montreal Canadiens will try to win consecutive games for the first time this month when they welcome the New York Rangers for tonight's battle at Bell Centre.

The Canadiens are just 3-4-2 in January, but they ended a three-game slide with Friday's victory in New Jersey. Tonight, Montreal will shoot for its first two-game win streak since beating Tampa Bay and Florida on December 30 and 31, respectively.

Jaroslav Halak made 14 of his 31 saves in the third period, backstopping the Canadiens to the 3-1 win over the Devils on Friday at the Prudential Center.

Michael Cammalleri, Benoit Pouliot and Mathieu Darche scored for the Canadiens.

"Tonight was a big test for us," Cammalleri said. "We have respect for the success New Jersey has had this year and felt we had to play a really detailed game to be successful."

Brian Gionta made his first visit to New Jersey since signing with Montreal as a free agent last summer. The diminutive right winger spent his first seven NHL seasons with the Devils and won a Stanley Cup in 2003. A broken left foot prohibited Gionta from playing when the Canadiens traveled to Newark on December 16.

The Habs, who are 11-11-4 as the host this year, are back home for just one game. Montreal will kick off a three-game road trip with Tuesday's matchup against the Florida Panthers.

The Rangers, meanwhile, will try to get back in the win column after getting shut out in Thursday's matchup with the rival Philadelphia Flyers. New York had scored a total of 14 goals in the two games prior to getting blanked, 2-0, by Ray Emery and the Flyers. Emery stopped 24 shots to quiet the surging New York offense.

Henrik Lundqvist played well in defeat, making 25 stops for the Rangers, who despite the recent offensive explosion were blanked for the third time in six contests.

The Blueshirts have now been shut out in two straight against Philadelphia as the Flyers notched a 6-0 win in New York on December 30. It marks the first time Philly has blanked the Rangers in consecutive meetings since October 20-22, 1999.

"They did a really good job in the neutral zone," said Rangers head coach John Tortorella. "They play a lock style, they defended the red line well. You have to give them a little credit for that. I just don't think we did a good enough job getting through it."

The Rangers are 12-9-3 as the guest this year and have lost three of their last four road games. Next up for New York is a two-game homestand against Pittsburgh and Carolina.

Montreal and the Rangers have split a pair of meetings so far this year with each team winning on home ice. New York has taken three of the four matchups in the series dating back to last year, but the Canadiens have four victories in the last seven overall matchups. The Rangers have also dropped three of four and four of their last six tests in Montreal.

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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.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on college football needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.