Blues visit Islanders at Nassau Coliseum

Hockey Betting Lines

03/11/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Blues will try to get back on track tonight when they visit the New York Islanders for an interconference clash at Nassau Coliseum.

The Blues pushed their winning streak to a season-high five games by posting consecutive victories to begin their post-Olympic schedule. However, St. Louis had its momentum halted in a big way Saturday, dropping a 7-3 road decision against Colorado.

St. Louis is still battling to stay in the playoff race. The Blues are currently six points out of the eighth and final postseason berth in the Western Conference.

Chris Stewart netted the first hat trick of his career and added an assist as to lead the Avalanche to Saturday's rout.

Alexander Steen had two goals and David Perron added a marker for the Blues. Chris Mason started in net, but was pulled in the second period for giving up four goals on 15 shots. Ty Conklin played the rest of the game and gave up two goals on 17 shots.

"We were just a step behind tonight," said Steen. "Skating is the biggest part of the game cause you can't clutch and grab and hold anymore and they were just a step ahead of us all night."

St. Louis, which has a solid 18-10-4 mark as the visitor this year, is playing the fourth test of a six-game road trip tonight.

Meanwhile, the Islanders have lost three straight games and are just 3-12-0 in their last 15 contests. The swoon has dropped New York to 14th place out of 15 teams in the East.

New York was dealt a 3-2 loss Tuesday in Philadelphia, marking the 15th straight victory for the Flyers against the Isles -- the longest active stretch of victories by one team over any single opponent in the league.

The Isles led 2-0 in the second period, but Philadelphia rallied to keep its streak alive.

Rookie John Tavares and Kyle Okposo scored for the Islanders, while Dwayne Roloson allowed three goals on 35 shots in the loss.

"I thought we played well," said Roloson. "We did the things we needed to do to win the hockey game. Unfortunately, they capitalized on a couple power plays -- that's just the way things have been bouncing for us."

Tonight's test marks the first of three straight on home ice for the Isles, who are 17-13-2 as the host this year. They will also host New Jersey and Toronto during the residency.

The Blues posted a 4-1 home win over the Isles on November 21 and have won two of three and four of the last six meetings between the clubs. St. Louis is 4-2 with a tie in its last seven trips to Long Island.

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SPORTS BETTING

NFL Football Betting Online

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.

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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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