Red Wings put home streak on the line against Blackhawks

Hockey Betting Lines

02/21/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Red Wings shoot for their 13th consecutive victory on home ice when the rival Chicago Blackhawks enter Joe Louis Arena tonight for a matchup between Central Division foes.

Detroit has been tremendous in the Motor City all season long, having amassed a gaudy 21-3-3 home mark for the campaign, and hasn't lost as the host since a 3-2 setback to Ottawa on December 12.

The franchise record for consecutive home victories is 14, set from January 21-March 25, 1965.

The Red Wings can also climb back into first place in the Central, where they currently trail Nashville by just one point, with a win tonight. The Predators also hold a slim edge on Detroit for the all-important top spot in the Western Conference.

Detroit completed a three-game road trip with a 4-1 triumph over lowly Phoenix on Saturday. Henrik Zetterberg was the offensive star for the Red Wings, as the All-Star forward recorded his first career hat trick and added an assist on Justin Williams' empty-net tally in the closing seconds.

Pavel Datsyuk assisted on all four Detroit goals and Dominik Hasek made 20 saves in the win, the Red Wings' eighth in their last 10 games.

Zetterberg continued his torrid scoring pace during February. In eight games this month, the Swedish star has racked up 10 goals and 11 assists.

Chicago will be attempting to halt a three-game overall losing streak as well as ending its recent lack of success in this series. The Blackhawks have lost 11 of their last 12 meetings with Detroit, including all three tests this season.

In its most recent contest, Chicago came up on the short end of a 2-1 decision to the New York Rangers Sunday in Madison Square Garden. Martin Havlat scored the only goal for the Blackhawks, who couldn't get out of an early 2-0 hole.

Patrick Lalime stopped 27-of-29 shots for Chicago in a losing cause.

The Blackhawks, who are 11-15-5 on the road for the season, will open a four- game homestand Thursday against San Jose.

Chicago has lost in eight of its last nine visits to Joe Louis Arena, including a 6-3 setback on January 13.

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Huskers' Lucky hospitalized for undisclosed reason

LINCOLN, Neb. -- Nebraska running back Marlon Lucky was hospitalized Monday for undisclosed reasons after Lincoln police responded to a call at his residence.

The Nebraska athletic department said in a release Monday that Lucky was admitted Sunday night.

MySportsbook.com has the Cornhuskers listed at +2500 to win the BCS National Championship odds.

A nursing supervisor at the hospital said all questions about Lucky were being referred to the athletic department. The athletic department said there would be no further comment from the department or Lucky's family.

A Lincoln Police spokesman said officers responded to a call at Lucky's residence 11:30 p.m. Sunday. The spokesman said he didn't know Lucky's condition at the time he was taken to the hospital.

Lucky, from North Hollywood, Calif., started six games last season as a sophomore and was the team's second-leading rusher, with 728 yards and six touchdowns. He also caught 32 passes for 383 yards. He averaged 19.1 yards on eight kickoff returns.

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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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