Coyotes hit the road to take on Hurricanes

Hockey Betting Lines

03/13/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Phoenix Coyotes will play their first road game in just over a month this evening when they kick off a four-game swing versus the Carolina Hurricanes at RBC Center.

The Coyotes are among the league leaders with 25 home wins, but play 11 of their final 15 contests on the road. That includes each of their next four games, as they play as the visitor for the first time since Feb. 12.

Phoenix went 3-2-0 on a five-game homestand, with four of those games coming after the Olympic break, and wrapped the residency with a 4-3 shootout win on Wednesday versus Vancouver.

Ilya Bryzgalov made 36 saves but allowed three of the Canucks' six shootout skaters to score. However, the Coyotes bested Vancouver's Andrew Raycroft four times, getting the winner from defenseman Adrian Aucoin in the sixth round.

"We're very fortunate to get any points out of it, let alone two. We didn't compete anywhere near the level I'd like us to compete. You're playing against a team that played [Tuesday] night, and I though [the Canucks] dictated a lot of the play," said Phoenix coach Dave Tippett.

Taylor Pyatt scored his 100th career goal during regulation and Lee Stempniak added a pair of tallies over the first 60 minutes. Stempniak now has three goals and an assist in three games since being acquired in a trade with Toronto on March 3.

Phoenix, which has won five of its last seven as the guest, reached 40 wins for just the second time since relocating from Winnipeg prior to the 1996-97 season. The Coyotes last reached the 40-win mark in 2001-02, which was also the last time the franchise made the playoffs. However, Phoenix is tied with Los Angeles for the fourth spot in the Western Conference.

The Coyotes' road play will face a tough challenge tonight as the Hurricanes continue a four-game homestand. They won the opener of the residency on Thursday, besting Pittsburgh, 4-3, in overtime to run their home winning streak to eight games.

Brian Pothier scored the game-winner when he one-timed a Ray Whitney pass into the back of the net 23 seconds into overtime for his fifth goal of the season and first in five games since being acquired from Washington before the trade deadline.

Whitney, Pothier and Eric Staal each had a goal and an assist, while Zach Boychuk also scored for a Carolina club that hasn't lost at home since Jan. 18. The 'Canes are 2-1-1 over their last four games since a seven-game win streak, and 14-4-1 in their last 19 games. However, the club remains eight points back of the Bruins for the eighth spot in the East.

Justin Peters made 37 saves in his fifth career start.

"Our goaltender was real good and we found a way to win a game," said Carolina head coach Paul Maurice. "It wasn't pretty. We had some guys down, some guys injured, and some guys fatigued after last night, but it was good that we got the win."

One of this injured players was Brandon Sutter, who left in the first period due to a lower-body injury and is questionable for this game.

Carolina had lost four straight to Phoenix before winning both meetings last season by a combined 12-4 margin. That includes a 5-2 home win on Nov. 21, 2008 for its third win in its last five at home versus the Coyotes.

Peters has never faced Phoenix, while fellow Hurricane netminder Manny Legace is 7-7-1 with two ties and a 2.34 goals-against average versus the franchise.

Bryzgalov has never beaten the Hurricanes, going 0-3-0 with a 5.06 GAA in three starts.

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Sportsbooks to bet on football

Recently I had an email debate with an angry reader who said I did not understand "the science of oddsmaking", as he called it.

He said I was wrong for suggesting oddsmakers care about who wins or loses games.

"Oddsmakers only care about splitting the betting public 50/50 on both sides of the line and keeping the commission (a.k.a. juice)," he wrote.

He might have been right about not understanding "the science of oddsmaking". After all, I'm not an oddsmaker. That said, I stick to my assertion that oddsmakers (a.k.a. sportbooks) often do care about who wins games.

Granted, as a general rule, sportsbooks try to balance their action so that they're not exposed to big losses. However, there are times when this is difficult to pull off, regardless of how much a line has moved. There are also times when that general rule is ignored and a book pursues risk.

Generally speaking, it's safe to say the books in Vegas are risk-adverse. Unlike in the past when the wise guys ruled the town, Vegas is now corporate and the goal of most casinos is to make as much money as possible with as little risk as possible.

Thus, Vegas sportsbooks try everything in their power to balance the action. They're satisfied simply collecting the juice. But these profits are small, especially compared to the take from other casino games, namely slot machines.

Because the profits at Vegas sportsbooks are so small, you could argue that many casinos operate sportsbooks simply as a novelty to keep the tourists happy.

With a growing aversion to risk, it should come as no surprise that Vegas bookmakers have been panicking this NFL season.

Despite huge pointspreads, a disproportionate percentage of bettors are still laying their money on favorites like the Eagles, Colts, Pats and Vikings rather than the dogs (a common trend for the largely recreational bettors that visit Vegas).

And much to the dismay of the books, those favorites are finding ways to cover the thick chalk. In fact, prior to Week 7, the four teams listed above are a combined 16-2-2 (88 percent) against the spread. (The tables turned dramatically in Week 7, but more on that later.)

The result has been an early-season beating for the books, and a bonanza for bettors.

While Vegas increasingly hates risk, it's no longer a major player in the sports betting world. Most of the betting action now takes place offshore where sportsbooks are not as obsessed about balance. In fact, some books encourage exposure to risk because the rewards can be so much bigger.

Consider MySportsbook.com. On its website, the book has odds pages which actually display the amount of action it's getting on games. In other words, you can see how much action the book is taking on both sides of a pointspread, moneyline or over/under.

One look at these numbers and it's obvious MySportsbook.com does not balance every game. In fact, far from it.

Take last weekend's matchup between St. Louis and Miami. By game time on Sunday, 83 percent of the betting action at MySportsbook.com was on the Rams; only 17 percent was on Miami.

What's interesting is that MySportsbook.com opened the pointspread with Miami at +6 1/2. By game time, the spread had lowered to +5.

That goes contrary to the balancing theory. If MySportsbook.com had wanted to balance the action, it would have given Miami more points; instead, it took away 1 1/2. World Series odds are now up as well.

MySportsbook.com exposed itself to even more to risk, and rolled the dice on the underdog Dolphins. Why? I contacted a representative with the book to find out. His answer was simple.

"The line moved early based on 'smart money' from sharp players," said Jeff Gilroy, a spokesperson for the book. "We also knew from early in the week that we would need Miami, therefore (we dropped) the spread to encourage Rams money.

"At the end of the day, we liked the home team."

So the conclusion is this: MySportsbook.com respected the sharp action, and gambled that the sharp bettors had a better take on the game than the recreational bettors, who were hammering the visiting Rams.

In the end, the gamble paid off. Miami, desperate for a win in front of its home fans, pounded the overrated Rams, who are terrible on the road and even worse on grass. Final score: 31-14 Fish.

MySportsbook.com was also heavily exposed on numerous favorites in Week 7, including Philadelphia, Seattle and Denver. All three failed to cover.

The fact that sportsbooks are exposed to risk on certain games is really nothing new. The fact, that Sportsbook.com is willing to show the public where it's exposed is intriguing.

Armed with this type of information, bettors can make more educated wagers. They can get an idea where the sharp money is going and conversely where the public money is headed.

MySportsbook.com is opening up its cashbox, letting bettors look inside and challenging them to take their best shot at grabbing the cash.

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