Thomas, Bruins blank Maple Leafs

Hockey Betting Lines

02/21/2007 - Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tim Thomas stopped 44 shots to record his third shutout of the season, helping the Boston Bruins to a 3-0 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs at Air Canada Centre.

Stanislav Chistov, P.J. Axelsson, and Jason York scored for the Bruins, winners in three straight and seven of nine.

Andrew Raycroft made just 10 saves on 13 shots through two periods for the Maple Leafs, who have now lost in four of their last six outings. Jean- Sebastien Aubin stopped all eight shots he faced in relief.

Leading by three goals, but outshot 26-13 through 40 minutes, the Bruins walked away with a crucial division road victory thanks to their netminder.

Thomas kept the shutout going by robbing Bates Battaglia on a 2-on-zero shorthanded break deep inside the Bruins' zone with three minutes played in the third. He came up big once more by flashing a glove to snag a Mats Sundin chance in the slot with just under four minutes left in the contest, then sticked aside the final few weak shots a tired Toronto offense could muster.

Boston survived an early two-man disadvantage, then got on the board at 7:13 as Chistov slammed home a loose puck in the crease which Raycroft failed to fall on.

Axelsson doubled the lead to 2-0 on a shorthanded goal, as he outraced Leafs defenseman Tomas Kaberle and blasted home a slapshot from the bottom of the left circle with 5:46 to play in the second.

When York's right point blast managed to sneak through traffic and beat Raycroft on the far side, the Bruins opened up a 3-0 lead at 17:41. Brandon Bochenski set up the score by stripping a Leafs player behind the net, skating back towards the point on the right side, and dishing to York, who netted his first of the season.

Game Notes

The Bruins won the season series, 5-3-0...The Leafs had won the previous two meetings by a combined 15-3 score, including a 10-2 rout in Boston in early January...Boston played without its top goal-scorer Glen Murray, who suffered a groin injury Monday against the Flyers...Toronto was blanked for only the second time all season, and for the first time at home...Neither team scored on 11 combined power-play opportunities.

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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.

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