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Ducks beat Flames in lengthy shootout

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02/07/2012 - Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Niklas Hagman scored the game-winner in the eighth round of the shootout as the Anaheim Ducks continued their dominance of the Calgary Flames at home with a 3-2 decision.

Bobby Ryan and Matt Belesky scored in regulation while Jonas Hiller stopped 24-of-26 shots for the Ducks, who snapped a two-game slide with their 14th consecutive victory over the Flames in Anaheim.

"We really wanted these two points. It's really important for our team and I really wanted it," said Hiller.

Alex Tanguay and Jarome Iginla lit the lamp for the Flames, whose last victory over the Ducks in Anaheim came on January 19, 2004.

Miikka Kiprusoff was denied his 300th career win despite making 31 saves.

Calgary trailed 2-1 entering the third period, and Anaheim's Lucas Sbisa was handed a five minute major penalty and a game misconduct for head butting 2:40 into the frame after his head collided with the head of Calgary's Tim Jackman on an open-ice check. The Flames took advantage with the game-tying goal

Iginla split Anaheim's defenseman while receiving a pass at the Ducks' blue line and raced in on a short breakaway, skating into the slot and sending a wrister past the stick side to knot the game at two at the 6:15 mark.

Each team was then awarded a late power play in the third period, but neither converted.

Early in the extra period, Anaheim's Teemu Selanne just missed the game-winner as he hit a post from the right circle after Kiprusoff lost track of the puck.

Iginla and Tanguay also failed to end the game when they came down the ice on a 2-on-1 rush, but Iginla missed the net as he lifted the puck too high over the crossbar.

"The game was more of a roller coaster ride. We battled back to get a point," Flames head coach Brent Sutter said. "In the shootout, you have good goalies making great saves and good players making great moves. They were fortunate to get one more past our goalie."

Ryan broke a scoreless tie with 4:08 remaining in the first period when he settled a rolling pass in the slot before snapping a shot through a screen and past Kiprusoff.

Then nearly two minutes later, Sheldon Brookbank ripped a one-timer from the right point that was redirected into the top-left corner by Belesky to put the Ducks ahead 2-0 after one.

But the Flames cut the deficit to one early in the second period. Blair Jones received a pass to the right of the net before sweeping behind the goal and sending the puck out in front from the left post. Tanguay grabbed the pass in the slot and slid a shot through the legs of Hiller at the 4:41 mark.

Anaheim then had several chances to extend its lead in the second as the Ducks were awarded four power plays, including a two-man advantage in which they hit two posts, but they could not convert and held a 2-1 advantage into the final period.

Game Notes

Five of the last six games between the teams in Orange County have been decided after regulation...Selanne currently sits at 655 career goals, which is one goal behind Brendan Shanahan for 12th on NHL's all-time list...Calgary failed to record a shot in overtime...The Ducks went 0-for-5 on the power play, while Calgary was 1-for-4 on the man advantage.


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College Football Betting Tips From a Pro

While the NFL is the sport wagered on the heaviest, college football betting lines has become more and more popular as people realize it’s a game that can be beat. The NCAA football season gets longer each year with the addition of numerous bowl games and with that comes more opportunities for more money in your pocket, if handled correctly.

Betting on college football is not the same as with the NFL, so make sure you separate the two. Because of the vast number of teams, the parity between college football programs is slight and thus, you are going to see some high numbers in the NCAA. Teams favored by more than 40 points are not uncommon especially early in the season when teams playing their non-conference schedules.

The best advice when trying to tackle these enormous spreads and is to just stay away. A team that is favored by 40 points is favored by that many for a reason while teams getting 40 points are bad enough that they shouldn’t be touched. Set yourself a spread limit. Getting rid of these games will cut down on the number of contests that you need to handicap while staying away from backdoor or front-door covers.

What is a backdoor and front-door cover you ask? A backdoor cover is a team that is getting beat by more than the spread, but scores late to get within that number thus covering the spread. A front-door cover is just the opposite where the favorite scores late and covers the number they are favored by.

These front-door and backdoor covers are common when second and third string players enter games in college football and it can be the worst nightmare for some bettors. These players can also be your best friend, but ask any bettor and he will give you more instances on losing in this situation than winning. It just seems to work out that way even though everything evens out in the end.

College football betting has some of the softest lines of any sport and it’s being able to find these lines that will make you a successful college football handicapper. The NFL and NBA have the tightest lines around and while those sports can be beat by looking at situations and systems, college football doesn’t quite work that way. It’s much more manual, but when done correctly, it’s much more gratifying as well.

Getting into the nuts and bolts of college football means looking at the many stats in order to beat the number. As opposed to pro football, college football is less dependent on situations and angles and more on certain statistics. Rushing offense and defense, pass efficiency offense and defense and turnover margins are huge. These are vital in the NFL, but even more so when it comes to college football.

Being able to run the ball in college football has always been a key factor in the overall success of a team. The same adage also goes for teams who have the ability to stop the run. Putting these two factors together can produce some positive results in a team’s record both straight up and against the spread. These numbers show huge differences in teams and the spread may not take those into effect, which is where the value comes into play.

Passing yardage numbers both for and against can be a misinterpreted statistic. However, pass efficiency has always been one of the best ways to look at a teams’ passing game ability both offensively and defensively. But is it really a true indication of how they perform? I wouldn’t say so since they are raw passing numbers with nothing else taken into consideration.

I use pass efficiency ratings when doing my handicapping but I adjust my numbers based on a number of factors including power ratings, strength of schedules, personnel and injuries. This gives a much better picture of a team’s ability to pass effectively and also being able to defend the pass. Tweaking pass efficiency stats instead of raw passing yards is the key.

Turnovers are the single most frustrating, and at times the most gratifying, aspect of a college football lines, mostly because they are so unpredictable. They are part of the game and most of the time nothing can be done to control them. However, turnovers are contagious and they can carry over from game to game and season to season.

It’s important to know how to forecast these unforeseen events and how to use them to your advantage. You can find ways to give yourself an edge by looking at past histories of teams and coaches and how they have fared in turnover wars in the past. Instead of turnovers hurting you at the wrong times, find ways to use them to your advantage.

As you can see, college football handicapping is very labor intensive and isn’t just based on where teams are ranked in the AP and coaches polls. Experience, coaching and match-ups are all important since unlike the NFL, college teams turn over much more often with new personnel at most positions every single year. Keeping current on this information is vital.

Betting NCAA football can be lucrative if done correctly, but more importantly, it’s just plain enjoyable because it can be beat. College football is one of the best sports to watch with some of the best rivalries taking place in all of sports. The only downfall is that a championship isn’t decided on the field but on a computer-based system that is the Bowl Championship Series. That will change someday and we will all be better off for it.

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