Caps crush Leafs

Hockey Betting Lines

12/28/2008 - Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brooks Laich and Alex Ovechkin scored two goals apiece to lead the streaking Washington Capitals to a 4-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs at Verizon Center.

Ovechkin upped his season total to 25 goals, tying him with Buffalo's Thomas Vanek for second in the NHL, one behind Philadelphia's Jeff Carter for the league lead. He helped Washington win its third in a row and eighth in its past nine. Jose Theodore made 23 saves in the win for the Capitals, on the night they retired Mike Gartner's No. 11 jersey.

Washington did so before the game, honoring the Hockey Hall of Famer who ranks second in Capitals history in goals (397), assists (392) and points (789). Gartner becomes the fourth player in Capitals history to have his number retired, joining Yvon Labre (No. 7), Rod Langway (No. 5) and Dale Hunter (No. 32).

Niklas Hagman scored the lone got for Toronto, which has lost three in a row and posted only four combined goals during that stretch. Vesa Toskala turned aside 25-of-28 shots for the Leafs.

Hagman got Toronto on the scoreboard first, tallying his 11th goal of the season with 5:37 left in the opening period. But two consecutive goals gave Washington the lead.

Laich netted a power-play marker with 7:06 remaining in the middle period, and with just 9.2 seconds left, Ovechkin beat Toskala during a 4-on-4 situation. Ovechkin had the puck while skating into the right circle, and snapped a shot around his defender, off Toskala's chest and into the net, his 24th of the season.

The game remained a 2-1 affair well into the third period, though about at the midway point of the final stanza, a Toronto shot bounced off the left post to prevent the equalizer. Then, with just 4:17 left in the contest, Laich put the puck past Toskala again, and Ovechkin scored on an empty net in the final minute to secure the win.

Game Notes

Washington forward Matt Bradley hit his head on the boards in the third period, after falling down on a missed check, and needed help from the trainers to skate off the ice...Nicklas Backstrom and Mike Green each had two assists for the Caps, who play at Buffalo on Tuesday...The Leafs host Atlanta on Tuesday.

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Betting the NFL preseason

Rule No. 1 in the gamblers' handbook states, "Avoid sports betting on meaningless games."

When you're drowning in a sea of baseball monotony, however, things change. Even a hint of pro football betting can persuade the most disciplined bettor to break a few rules. 

The NFL preseason is around the corner, with a tempting Hall of Fame match kicking off on Sunday. But bettors must stay vigilant. Wagering on NFL exhibition games is an entirely different beast than the regular season. Most fans don't recognize the players on the field because starters get as much action in August as Warcraft fans get on Prom night.

The only certainty about the NFL this time of year is uncertainty – and yet there are some who say betting in August can be a gold mine.

“I actually feel the NFL preseason presents solid profit opportunities for sharp bettors and handicappers,” Sports Expert Steve Merril explains. “My experience has been that the sportsbooks fear the preseason, which is evident by lower limits and massive moves.”

The line moves are attributed to the limited knowledge available regarding playing-time distribution. One team’s top unit out on the field for one more series has an impact on the pointspread. Setting lines in the preseason often is a shot in the dark.

“We base the betting lines mostly on public perception,” Pete Korner, founder of the Sports Club in Las Vegas, says. “It’s very tough to predict, almost a guessing game.”

The preseason is all about figuring out who’s in and for how long.

“It becomes a race between bettors and oddsmakers to find out how long the quarterbacks are going to stay in,” Korner admits. “If a sharp gets the information first, he could exploit an early line. I’m a full believer in moving the line in the preseason if the books find out something late in the week.”

Determining what each team’s motive is can help bettors handicap. To do this you must pay close attention to the philosophies head coaches employ in exhibition play.

“You need to know what a coach is trying to accomplish,” says Covers Expert Bryan Leonard. “Sometimes a new coach will want to instill a winning attitude. Others just want to make sure their starters don’t get hurt."

So how do you distinguish who’s playing scared and who’s playing for keeps?

“Head coaches on the hot seat or new coaches trying to implement a winning attitude usually try harder to win in the preseason,” Merril says.

Cleveland Browns head coach Romeo Crennel fits this criteria. He’s entering his third season as the sideline boss and has yet to lead the Browns to more than six wins.

Cleveland is an enticing bet as well because of the unresolved quarterback situation. General manager Phil Savage sacrificed the Browns’ first-round pick in next year’s draft for Brady Quinn, but the former Notre Dame quarterback hasn’t signed or reported to training camp yet.

Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson split time at QB last season and it looks like either player (or even Quinn) could be the opening-day starter.

“If a team has quarterback depth and the pecking order hasn’t been decided, it’s a big advantage,” Leonard says.

Even in the third week of the preseason when starters generally play the most, the final outcome of the game is in the hands of fringe players. A team's talent, all the way down to the last man on the roster, is something to consider.

The New England Patriots have long been considered one of the deeper teams in the NFL and coach Bill Belichick has said in the past he’s unafraid of stars getting hurt in games with nothing on the line. He shocked his colleagues in 2003 by playing some of his starters on special teams in the preseason.

“We want to have the team ready to play a tough, physical game and preparation has to go into that and I imagine a certain amount of injuries go with it,” Belichick told the Providence Journal in August 2003.

Bettors can only hope to find more teams that share the Pats' business-like approach to the preseason (New England is 17-9-3 against the spread since 2000) and take advantage of teams who detest the exhibition schedule.

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