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03/14/2010 - Vancouver, BC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mikael Samuelsson scored twice, as the Vancouver Canucks returned home to GM Place with a 5-1 win over the Ottawa Senators.
The Canucks were forced to play 14 straight games on the road, spanning six weeks, because of the Olympics. It was the longest sequence of road games by a team in NHL history.
Alexandre Burrows, Daniel Sedin and Sami Salo also scored for the Canucks, who have won three of their last four games. Canadian gold medal-winning goaltender Roberto Luongo pushed aside 13 shots.
Jason Spezza tallied the lone score for the Senators, who have dropped five of six. Goaltender Pascal Leclaire racked up 30 saves.
The Canucks started the scoring off on the power play at 17:46 in the first period. Salo passed the puck from the right point over to the left to Pavol Demitra, who found Samuelsson for the wrister and the goal.
Ottawa tied the game at the three minute mark of the second. Spezza carried the puck the length the ice, splitting defenders and eventually putting the puck through Luongo's legs.
Vancouver re-took the lead at 2-1 on a Burrows breakaway. Burrows stole the puck in the defensive zone and carried it in on Leclaire, beating the netminder above the right shoulder for his 31st of the season at 9:12 of the second period.
The Canucks struck again 2:18 later when the streaking Samuelsson scored his second of the night and 30th of the year on a perfect pass from Daniel Sedin through the middle of the zone for the backhanded score.
Vancouver extended its edge to 4-1 at the 16:07 mark, as Henrik Sedin found the puck behind the net and threw it in front to Daniel Sedin for the easy put in.
Salo put the game out of reach at 5-1 with just under nine minutes remaining, taking a pass in the slot from Alexander Edler on the right boards and lifting it over a screened Leclaire.
Game Notes
Salo and Samuelsson each added an assist...Ottawa never managed more than eight shots in a period...Vancouver next plays at home on Sunday against Calgary...Ottawa next plays on Tuesday at home against Toronto.
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In any football or basketball game (the main sports that use point spreads) there are two teams playing against each other.
Those teams, though, are rarely exactly evenly matched – meaning that typically one team has a better chance than the other to win the game. If bettors were allowed to bet on who was simply going to win the game, smart ones would obviously bet on the better team (likely winning more than 50% of the time in the process).
If winning were that easy the Las Vegas and online sportsbooks would stop taking any bets! This is where the point spread comes in: the basic function of the point spread is to balance the likelihood of each team “winning” by adjusting the final score by the point spread. After this adjustment is made you get the Against The Spread result (ATS result for short).
Let’s look at Super Bowl XXXIX, New England Patriots vs. Philadelphia Eagles. Most people believed the defending champ Patriots to be the better team – so if betting were simply based upon which team would win the game, an uneven majority of people would have wagered on New England. But, by using the point spread, the bookmakers adjusted the terms of the bet, evening the proposition so about half the people believed the Pats to be the smart bet, while the other half considered Philly to be the smart bet.
New England Patriots -7 vs. Philadelphia Eagles
The better team, called the Favorite, is expected to win the game and must “give” or “lay” points to the weaker team. The favorite is listed with a minus sign and the number of points they are favored by (e.g., New England -7)
In the case of our example, New England must not only win the game, but they must win by more than 7 points for Pats bettors to have a winning ATS result. An Eagles bettor wins his bet either if:
There was also the possibility that the final score could land exactly on the spread number (for example, the Pats winning 28-21 when -7), which is called a “push” or “no action” and a refund is then issued to bettors of both teams.
The same game with the same point spread can be considered from the weaker team’s perspective: The Underdog (Philly in the case of our example) is not expected to win the game and thus receives or “gets” points given by the stronger team. When a game is stated from the underdog’s perspective the team is listed with a plus sign and the number of points they are underdogs by:
Philadelphia Eagles +7 vs. New England Patriots
Keep in mind that Philadelphia +7 and New England -7 is the same point spread on the same game, simply stated differently. The first is from the underdog’s perspective; the later is from the favorite’s.
Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:
Let’s look at the actual result of Super Bowl XXXIX: New England 24 Philadelphia 21
The favorite, New England, won the game but not by more than the point spread they were favored by (7), so the ATS result was a LOSS for Pats bettors.
Looking at it from the underdog’s perspective, Philly did not win the game, but they lost by less than the point spread (7), so the ATS result was a WIN for Eagle bettors.
Mathematically considered, 24 for the favorite Pats minus 7 equals 17, which is less than the 20 the Eagles scored, so the underdog Eagles win the ATS result (or you could figure 20 plus 7 equals 27 for the Eagles, which is more than 24 for the Pats).
Emily’s boyfriend understood the point spread and wagered $100 on the Eagles at +7. The Eagles may not have gotten a Super Bowl ring, but since they won the ATS result Emily’s boyfriend cashed his bet – giving him money to take her out to a nice dinner.
And now hopefully you understand how to read point spreads, putting you one step closer to joining the fun of sports betting.
To visit this internet sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting and World Series odds.
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