Sharks continue homestand with battle against Predators

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03/11/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Having rallied in the third period in each of its last two victories, the San Jose Sharks wrap their season series with the Nashville Predators this evening at HP Pavilion.

Even though it is getting later in the season, the Sharks have been able to finish strong in their last two games. Dany Heatley and Manny Malhotra scored in the third period of a 3-2 win over Montreal last Thursday before Heatley and Joe Pavelski lit the lamp in the final frame of Saturday's 2-1 triumph against Columbus.

Evgeni Nabokov made 21 saves for the Sharks, who are 2-1-0 on a five-game homestand and have won seven of their last 10 as host.

"I think the offense is going, but we're just running into some hot goalies in this league," said Heatley, who has scored in back-to-back contests after going five games without a tally. "Especially down the stretch here, we're going to face hot goalies every team we play. The good things are we're creating a lot and getting a lot of chances."

The Sharks now find themselves tied with the Chicago Blackhawks for the most points in the Western Conference with 93, though they have a game in hand. Both clubs trail the Washington Capitals by six points for the most in the NHL.

While San Jose has needed to rally in its last two games, Nashville comes in off a great defensive effort that made an early lead stand up. Ryan Suter and Colin Wilson both scored first-period goals Tuesday in Atlanta, and Dan Ellis made it stand up with 30 saves in a 2-1 victory.

"The first period I thought we played real well," said Nashville head coach Barry Trotz. "I know they were playing with a lot of urgency. I thought we played a real good road period to start."

In halting a two-game slide and winning for the fourth time in six games, the Predators gave Trotz, who has been the team's coach since its inception in 1998, his 400th career victory. He became just the seventh coach in NHL history to reach that mark with one team.

Nashville, which is two points up on Calgary for the seventh spot in the West, played its second game in a row without Shea Weber. The defenseman has 12 goals and 24 assists this year.

The Predators, who won the opener of a four-game road trip, now head out West and will also play in Anaheim and Los Angeles. Tuesday's win was just the club's third in its last 10 games as the guest.

San Jose has won two of three versus Nashville this year -- with each game decided by just one goal -- and eight of the last 11 in the series.

The Sharks notched a 4-3 road win when the clubs last met on February 6. Heatley had two goals and an assist, giving him five goals and six helpers in eight career games versus the Preds. Joe Thornton had two assists for San Jose in that game, and he has 30 career helpers in 27 games versus Nashville.

The Predators have dropped two straight, four of five and nine of their last 11 at San Jose.

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MySportsbook.com: New College Football Clock Rules Examined

Coaches and bettors alike are desperate to make sense of the new time-keeping rules on the NCAA gridiron. One of the big stories to come out of the Ohio State-Texas clash last weekend was Texas coach Mack Brown's criticism of the NCAA's new clock rules that are intended to shorten the duration of college football games, therefore affecting college football betting.

"They scored with six minutes left and the game was over before we had a chance to do anything," Brown told ESPN.com. "I really hope whoever made these changes will go back and look them over."

Sure, it might be sour grapes; the Buckeyes thoroughly trounced the defending national champion Longhorns 24-7. However, Brown isn't alone in giving the changes their due thought. Bettors are also wondering about them, albeit for a completely different reason. Most experts agree that the changes will result in games being shortened by anywhere from 10 to 20 plays. The obvious consequence is lower scores, with more time rolling off the clock during changes of possession. (The Ohio State-Texas game flew well under the total of 52.)

According to research at the online sportsbook MySportsbook.com, more than 18 plays a game disappeared last weekend into thin air. That's a 10-percent reduction. In 2005, a typical game had 168.58 plays. For 2007 already, it's down to 150.26.

As a result, teams combined to gain an average of about 100 fewer yards a game last weekend versus the 2005 openers. Scoring was also down by about 4.5 points (attention Las Vegas sports lines).

Of course, oddsmakers were able to adjust to the changes before the season started. Proof of that came as the over went a balanced 8-9 at My Sportsbook on Saturday.

Other angles to consider:A shorter game should theoretically result in shorter lines. Whereas Team A might have been a 14-point favorite in a 168-play game (last year), if there are 10 percent less snaps in 2007, the line should also be reduced by 10 percent (to 13 or 12.5). Of course, this is an over-simplification of the matter, but something to keep in mind.
Less possessions means a better chance the game will be decided by three or seven points. For example, what might have been a 20-10 final score in 2005 may end at

17-10 in 2007. Granted, a 24-17 game last year might end at 21-17 these days, but the former - a three- or seven-point advantage being preserved as opposed to created - is the most likely scenario.

*UPDATE* - Sept. 25, 2007

New Clock Rules Boon for online bookmakers

By adjusting the time-keeping rules to shorten the duration of college football games, the NCAA hoped to make its product more enjoyable for the fans. While the NCAA's success in this regard is still up for debate, bookmakers couldn't be happier with the results.

"We are seeing a massive jump in college football betting," noted the MySportsbook.com management team. "With all the early Saturday games (12 a.m. ET) ending before the second wave begins (3:30 p.m. ET) - something that didn't always happen before the changes - bettors are now able to re-invest their winnings from the morning session in the afternoon games."

While not all bettors will choose to roll over their winnings, it doesn't take much for an impact to be seen on the bottom line. "Not all of the millions of dollars in morning payouts get re-bet. In fact, it's probably only 10 to 20 percent," noted the sportsbook management team. "Still, the increased football betting lines window will create a ton of growth for us over the course of the season."

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