Maple Leafs host Oilers in matchup of last place clubs

Hockey Betting Lines

03/13/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A battle between the bottom two teams in the NHL is on tap tonight in Toronto, pitting the Maple Leafs against the Edmonton Oilers at Air Canada Centre.

Despite having won two straight and three of their last four, the Maple Leafs are still last in the Eastern Conference with just 56 points on the year. Edmonton -- bottom feeders in the Western Conference -- is the only club lower than Toronto with 49 points.

In addition to winning its last two games, Toronto has recorded at least a point in four of its last five outings, going 3-1-1 over that stretch.

The Maple Leafs have also won their last two games by 4-3 scores in overtime, beating visiting Boston on Tuesday and edging Tampa Bay two days later in another home tilt.

Phil Kessel scored 3:33 into overtime to give Toronto its latest victory against the Lightning on Thursday. Kessel, who leads the Leafs with 23 goals this year, picked up the first OT game-winner of his career.

Viktor Stalberg had a pair of goals, while Tyler Bozak also found the net for the Maple Leafs. Jean-Sebastien Giguere made 30 saves for Toronto.

"Young guys are stepping up here at the end of the year," Kessel said. "We're playing for each other, working hard out there."

Tonight marks the end of a three-game homestand for the Maple Leafs, who are 13-14-5 as the host this year. Toronto will play its next two games on the road against the New York Islanders and Ottawa.

Edmonton is 2-1-1 in its last four games and is coming off Thursday's shootout loss in Montreal. That setback kicked off a four-game road trip for the Oilers, who have a dismal 8-21-3 record as the guest.

Andrei Kostitsyn scored in the fifth round of the shootout, lifting the Canadiens to the 5-4 victory at Bell Centre.

Kostitsyn's was the only score of the shootout and came when he beat Devan Dubnyk with a forehand shot low to the left side. Sam Gagner was then wild on a backhand attempt to seal the victory for Montreal.

Gagner, Shawn Horcoff, Robert Nilsson and Andrew Cogliano had the goals for the Oilers. Dubnyk made 22 saves.

"We played a great hockey game, we had a lot of jump," Dubnyk said. "Everyone worked so hard. It's a test for me every time I'm out there. In the shootout, I was really comfortable. I felt good tonight even though they had the one goal which beat us."

The Oilers defeated Toronto, 3-1, in Edmonton on December 30, but the Maple Leafs have still won five of eight overall in the series. Edmonton has dropped eight of its last 10 contests in Toronto.

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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.