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03/12/2009 - Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kristian Huselius scored the first goal of the game and notched the game-winning goal in the shootout to lift the Columbus Blue Jackets to a 4-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins at Nationwide Arena.
After the initial four shooters failed to find the net, Huselius' wrister went through the five-hole of Marc-Andre Fleury to give the home team a 1-0 edge in the shootout. It all came down to Evgeni Malkin, but he fired wide left to hand the game to the Blue Jackets.
With the win, Columbus snapped Pittsburgh's seven-game winning streak.
"It was a win that felt like a relief. We played so well for a period of time. Once we caught on to what they were doing, we made an adjustment," said Columbus head coach Ken Hitchcock. "From the six minute mark of the first period through the second period we played great. We did everything we needed to do. We did some great things with the puck, then holy smokes."
Jason Williams and Antoine Vermette tallied a goal and an assist apiece for the Blue Jackets, who have won three consecutive contests. Steve Mason made 38 saves to pick up his 28th win on the year. With the win, the 20-year-old broke Marc Denis' club record set back in 2002-03.
Sergei Gonchar, Pascal Dupuis, and Maxime Talbot scored for the Penguins, who lost for the first time since February 22 in Washington. Malkin and Sidney Crosby had two helpers each in defeat. Fleury turned away 25-of-28 shots.
"They played strong defensively. We didn't get a lot of speed in the first two periods," said Crosby. "We played into their hands turning the puck over a lot. And in the third we put some more pressure on them, got some turnovers and some good goals."
The Blue Jackets drew first blood at the 8:42 mark on Huselius' 19th of the year. Fedor Tyutin, who was stationed at center ice, hit Huselius with a pass at the blueline and Huselius finished the play with a shot from the left circle that slid past the pads of Fleury.
Columbus took their 1-0 lead into the second period after both teams fired 10 shots on goal in the frame.
Williams lit the lamp with 3:01 remaining in the second stanza to give the home team a 2-0 advantage. Fleury tried to pass the disc off to a teammate behind the net, but Vermette stole the puck and hit Williams in front of the net. Williams' backhander flew past the stick-side of Fleury.
Vermette's slap shot from the point sailed past the glove of Fleury at the 1:03 mark of the third period to give the home team a 3-0 lead. But Pittsburgh came charging back with three unanswered goals.
Gonchar got the scoring started for Pittsburgh with a slap shot from the right point with 11:27 to go. Just over a minute later, Dupuis lit the lamp off a rebound from a Malkin wrap-around attempt.
With 8:02 remaining, Malkin stole the disc from behind the net and backhanded a pass to an open Talbot, who lit the lamp with a shot from the left circle to knot the game at three.
"We went backwards with the puck twice and nothing good happens when you have a lead and go backwards with the puck," said Hitchcock. "Both (the second and third) goals we went backwards with the puck and then, game on. They started come at us pretty good, in waves."
The game eventually went to overtime, where the Penguins outshot the Blue Jackets 3-0. But Pittsburgh failed to score in the extra session and the tilt went into a shootout.
Game Notes
Pittsburgh went 1-for-4 on the power play, while Columbus couldn't convert on any of their six power-play opportunities...The Penguins had won six of the nine all-time meetings with the Blue Jackets.
<< Okposo's OT goal leads Islanders past Canadiens
Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kyle Okposo scored the game-winning goal 26
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Jamie
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at the
In terms of sports wagering, the NFL is "the most popular game in town." The explanation behind that is easy.
It is called the "pointspread."
Many years ago, NFL games, as well as the more popular college games, used straight odds as a vehicle for betting. For example, if the Bears were playing the Giants, and it shaped up as a competitive contest, the Bears might be, say, a 7/5 favorite. If they were playing an also-ran, it might be 10/1. Well, there is a point where a line becomes prohibitive, as far as betting the favorite. And who would waste money betting an underdog that has virtually no chance? Such a setup did not contribute to promoting betting action.
But in modern sports betting, a "pointspread" is used.
A NFL pointspreads are exactly that, a pre-established point difference between the two sides that will, for all intents and purposes, create a handicap that evens things out, and in doing so, produces comparable wagering activity on both sides of that proposition. So in lieu of a odds figure in which to bet the team to win outright, the Bears might be a three-point favorite over the New York Giants, and a 17-point favorite over the also-ran. Now that the team that is the underdog can "get" points, there can be equal action on both sides.
In sportsbooks, this is usually done with efficiency by charging the losing bettors 10% extra - in effect, bettors are laying 11/10 on those games. So they are actually betting $110 to win $100. If they lose, they pay the "vig." If they win, they simply collect.
The establishment of the pointspread as the corner stone around which team sports like football can be wagered upon was truly what brought gridiron betting into the stratosphere for online football betting .
Don't believe it? Just take a look at what happens around the Super Bowl.
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NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking.
No. 1 always seems to fit USC.
Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent.
Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory.
Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3.
"We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team."
Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time.
"Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team."
The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.
"I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won."
Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State.
"There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?"
USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll.
"It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter."
While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls.
As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule.
But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference.
Get the latest 2009 BCS Championship odds at MySportsbook.com.
The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road.
The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second.
The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia.
No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday.
Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.
Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina.
Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson.
The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996.
South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20.
The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24.
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