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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What Is the Point Spread?

What are Sports Betting Point Spreads?

In any football or basketball game (the main sports that use point spreads) there are two teams playing against each other.

Those teams, though, are rarely exactly evenly matched – meaning that typically one team has a better chance than the other to win the game. If bettors were allowed to bet on who was simply going to win the game, smart ones would obviously bet on the better team (likely winning more than 50% of the time in the process).

If winning were that easy the Las Vegas and online sportsbooks would stop taking any bets! This is where the point spread comes in: the basic function of the point spread is to balance the likelihood of each team “winning” by adjusting the final score by the point spread. After this adjustment is made you get the Against The Spread result (ATS result for short).

Let’s look at Super Bowl XXXIX, New England Patriots vs. Philadelphia Eagles. Most people believed the defending champ Patriots to be the better team – so if betting were simply based upon which team would win the game, an uneven majority of people would have wagered on New England. But, by using the point spread, the bookmakers adjusted the terms of the bet, evening the proposition so about half the people believed the Pats to be the smart bet, while the other half considered Philly to be the smart bet.

How to Read Point Spreads

New England Patriots -7 vs. Philadelphia Eagles

The better team, called the Favorite, is expected to win the game and must “give” or “lay” points to the weaker team. The favorite is listed with a minus sign and the number of points they are favored by (e.g., New England -7)

In the case of our example, New England must not only win the game, but they must win by more than 7 points for Pats bettors to have a winning ATS result. An Eagles bettor wins his bet either if:

To visit this internet sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting and World Series odds.

FOOTBALL BETTING : Cassel Signs Contract

Kansas City, MO - Kansas City has not officially named Matt Cassel its starting quarterback, but there can be no doubt now.

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After praising his leadership and work ethic through spring workouts, the Chiefs announced Tuesday they had signed the 27-year-old Cassel to a multiyear contract. Terms were not disclosed, but he will almost certainly be one of the highest-paid members of the team.
"We are excited to be able to reach a long-term agreement for Matt Cassel to be a Kansas City Chief for many years to come," owner and board chairman Clark Hunt said in a statement. "His proven leadership on and off the field will be a tremendous asset to the organization."
Patriots made him their franchise player, meaning his salary for this season will be about $15 million.
New head coach Todd Haley, taking over for Herm Edwards after a 2-14 season, refused to name a starter at any position during offseason workouts. But it was obvious to everyone the team belonged to Cassel.
"I go out there each and every day with that focus that I'm the starter," Cassel said during a June minicamp. "Competition brings out the best in everybody."
The signing will come as welcome news to Cassel's new coaches and teammates. Amiable and hardworking, online football betting he appeared to win over everyone at minicamp.
"I think he's got some unique leadership qualities. I think his teammates like him and have respect for him. I think he's doing a pretty good job on the field, too," Haley said last month. "He's doing everything that I'm asking him, that our coaches are asking him to do. I don't have one single complaint how he's carrying himself."
After one workout, wide receiver Devard Darling declared Cassel "a breath of fresh air."
"He has a lot of swagger, a lot of confidence. It's good for us," said Darling. "We trust in him that he's going to go out there and lead us all the way."
nse to accommodate his specific abilities.
Trapped on the bench behind Heisman winners Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart at USC and then unable to unseat Super Bowl MVP Brady at New England, Cassel seemed destined to be a backup all his life. As Brady was helped off the field last September, Cassel seized the opportunity he'd been waiting for since high school.
In his only sustained action since his teens, he hit 349 of 555 passes for 3,949 yards at New England. He had 23 touchdown passes and 13 interceptions as the Patriots, who had gone unbeaten through the regular season the year before, finished 11-5 and out of the playoffs.
Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli, who had been Bill Belichick's assistant in New England, engineered the trade after the Patriots became convinced that Brady would recover fully from his knee operation.
"Since Matt arrived in Kansas City, he has embraced the team and the community," Pioli said. "His work ethic, his ability and competitive presence is what we expect from our players."

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