Islanders stay alive with win over Leafs

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04/06/2007 - Uniondale, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jason Blake scored the go-ahead goal 3:46 into the third period and the New York Islanders kept their slim playoff hopes alive with a 5-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs at Nassau Coliseum.

Aaron Asham and Mike Sillinger added a goal and an assist each and Tom Poti had three assists for the Islanders, which moved within two points of the eighth-place Montreal Canadiens in the Eastern Conference playoff race.

Montreal has 90 points after a 3-1 loss to the Rangers on Thursday night. The Canadiens' setback also helped the Maple Leafs, who remain one point behind Montreal for the final playoff spot. Toronto and Montreal square off on Saturday night in the regular-season finale for both clubs.

The Islanders, meanwhile, have two games remaining. New York plays at Philadelphia on Saturday and at New Jersey on Sunday.

Ryan Smyth also scored and Wade Dubielewicz ended with 28 saves for New York, which has won two straight.

John Pohl scored and Carlo Colaiacovo had a goal and an assist for Toronto, losers in three of its last five contests. Darcy Tucker had two assists and Andrew Raycroft had 22 saves for the Maple Leafs, who faltered down the stretch.

Just 1:34 after the Maple Leafs tied the game at 2-2, Blake put the Islanders ahead with a great effort. After taking the puck along the right-side boards, he skated over to the top of the left circle and wristed a shot over the stick of Raycroft.

Asham, who had the primary assist on Blake's go-ahead goal, gave the Islanders a two-goal advantage just over eight minutes later. He skated into the zone along the left boards and from the top of the circle slapped a shot that went into the upper stick-side corner.

Miroslav Satan added an empty-net goal with just under two minutes to play to ice the win.

The Isles broke the boards first, using the hard work of Smyth to tally the game's first goal. Smyth brought the puck behind the net and swung a pass out front to Sillinger. Raycroft stopped the initial shot from Sillinger, but Smyth pounced on the rebound to give New York the lead with 3:03 left in the opening period.

Toronto tied the game in the second period. With both teams skating four aside, Tucker skated through the crease and backhanded the puck to the front of the net, where Pohl tapped it home for the equalizer with 6:24 left until the second break.

The Islanders caught a break late in the second and took advantage. With Hal Gill in the penalty box for tripping, New York worked the puck around the perimeter. After Sillinger sent a short pass to Poti from the left point to the left-side boards, Poti gave the puck to Trent Hunter, who was located left of the net along the goal line extended. From there, Hunter found Sillinger streaking through the crease and hit him with the puck, which he wristed past Raycroft for a 2-1 edge.

Gill, though, helped make amends early in the third, recording an assist along with Tucker on Colaiacovo's goal that tied the game just 2:12 into the period.

Game Notes

New York won three of four from Toronto this season, taking two games in a shootout...New York ended 1-for-1 on the power play, while the Leafs went 0- for-3...The home team has won 10 of 12 in this series.

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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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