Sillinger lifts Islanders over Penguins in final seconds

Hockey Betting Lines

02/19/2007 - Uniondale, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mike Sillinger scored with 26.8 seconds to play, as the New York Islanders handed the Pittsburgh Penguins their first loss in regulation in over a month with a 6-5 win at Nassau Coliseum.

With time winding down in the third, Sidney Crosby set up Mark Recchi for a one-timer from the low right side, on which Rick DiPietro made a save.

The Islanders skated back down the ice on transition and, from the top of the right circle, Andy Hilbert sent a pass to Sillinger, who, from the slot, used Mark Eaton as a screen and snapped a shot on net. Marc-Andre Fleury slowed down the puck with his glove, but it retained enough momentum to trickle into the net with 26.8 to play.

Pittsburgh pulled Fleury from the net but was only able to get one shot on net, and the Islanders gave the home crowd a victory.

"It was a big win. Obviously any time you outscore Pittsburgh something is going right," said Sillinger.

Chris Simon scored two goals and Randy Robitaille added three assists for the Islanders, who have won three of their last four contests.

Rick DiPietro stopped 25 shots in the win for New York, which, with 66 points, is in a three-way tie with Toronto and Montreal for the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference.

Ryan Malone notched his second-career hat trick, Mark Recchi had two goals and three assists, and Sidney Crosby added four assists for the Penguins, who lost in regulation for the first time since January 10 and went 14-0-2 during that run.

"I think our mistakes were just big mistakes and the puck ended up in our net," said Crosby.

Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 24 shots for Pittsburgh, which has 73 points and moved into fourth place in the Eastern Conference thanks to the streak.

Pittsburgh broke a 4-4 tie just 48 seconds into the third period when Crosby flicked a shot on net from the right circle on which DiPietro made a save, but the rebound went right to the slot and on his second attempt Malone got the puck into the back of the net for a 5-4 win.

However, the Islanders tied the game a little over a minute later when Robitaille fed a pass from the left point to the top of the right circle and Simon blasted the disc into the left corner of the net.

The Penguins grabbed a 1-0 lead just 45 seconds in when Malone grabbed a loose puck out of the air, laid it on the ice and shot it between the pads of DiPietro.

The Islanders tied the game on the power play when Arron Asham sent a pass from the right boards to the high slot where Viktor Kozlov shot it under the right pad of Fleury with 5:11 left in the first.

However, Pittsburgh scored the next two goals to assume a 3-1 lead.

Shortly after a 5-on-3 advantage expired, Crosby sent a pass between the legs of two defenders from the left side of the net to the right side where Recchi tapped it in with just 49 seconds left in the first.

In the second period Malone tucked in a wraparound attempt from the right side of the net just 49 seconds in. The play was reviewed to see if the puck crossed the goal line, and after a lengthy review the goal was awarded.

New York, though, responded with three goals to grab a 4-3 lead.

Simon scored his first goal in 26 games when he accepted a pass from Robitaille at the inside of the left circle and redirected it into the net 2:03 into the second.

Just 15 seconds later on a delayed call Jason Blake banged an errant shot out of the air and into the net to tie the game.

A little less than six minutes later Kozlov snapped a shot from the right circle that Fleury saved, but Miroslav Satan pounced on the rebound and banged the puck into the net for his 21st goal of the year.

Recchi, though, tied the game when he banged in a loose puck during a 5-on-3 advantage with 1:59 remaining in the second.

Game Notes

Both of Malone's hat tricks have come against the Islanders, with the last one occurring on December 15...The Islanders host the Maple Leafs on Thursday...Pittsburgh travels to Tampa Bay for a contest on Thursday...The Penguins went 2-for-5 on the power play, while New York finished 1- for-3...Marc-Andre Bergeron, who the Islanders acquired on Sunday from the Edmonton Oilers, had two assists in his debut with New York.

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College Football Betting Tips From a Pro

While the NFL is the sport wagered on the heaviest, college football betting lines has become more and more popular as people realize it’s a game that can be beat. The NCAA football season gets longer each year with the addition of numerous bowl games and with that comes more opportunities for more money in your pocket, if handled correctly.

Betting on college football is not the same as with the NFL, so make sure you separate the two. Because of the vast number of teams, the parity between college football programs is slight and thus, you are going to see some high numbers in the NCAA. Teams favored by more than 40 points are not uncommon especially early in the season when teams playing their non-conference schedules.

The best advice when trying to tackle these enormous spreads and is to just stay away. A team that is favored by 40 points is favored by that many for a reason while teams getting 40 points are bad enough that they shouldn’t be touched. Set yourself a spread limit. Getting rid of these games will cut down on the number of contests that you need to handicap while staying away from backdoor or front-door covers.

What is a backdoor and front-door cover you ask? A backdoor cover is a team that is getting beat by more than the spread, but scores late to get within that number thus covering the spread. A front-door cover is just the opposite where the favorite scores late and covers the number they are favored by.

These front-door and backdoor covers are common when second and third string players enter games in college football and it can be the worst nightmare for some bettors. These players can also be your best friend, but ask any bettor and he will give you more instances on losing in this situation than winning. It just seems to work out that way even though everything evens out in the end.

College football betting has some of the softest lines of any sport and it’s being able to find these lines that will make you a successful college football handicapper. The NFL and NBA have the tightest lines around and while those sports can be beat by looking at situations and systems, college football doesn’t quite work that way. It’s much more manual, but when done correctly, it’s much more gratifying as well.

Getting into the nuts and bolts of college football means looking at the many stats in order to beat the number. As opposed to pro football, college football is less dependent on situations and angles and more on certain statistics. Rushing offense and defense, pass efficiency offense and defense and turnover margins are huge. These are vital in the NFL, but even more so when it comes to college football.

Being able to run the ball in college football has always been a key factor in the overall success of a team. The same adage also goes for teams who have the ability to stop the run. Putting these two factors together can produce some positive results in a team’s record both straight up and against the spread. These numbers show huge differences in teams and the spread may not take those into effect, which is where the value comes into play.

Passing yardage numbers both for and against can be a misinterpreted statistic. However, pass efficiency has always been one of the best ways to look at a teams’ passing game ability both offensively and defensively. But is it really a true indication of how they perform? I wouldn’t say so since they are raw passing numbers with nothing else taken into consideration.

I use pass efficiency ratings when doing my handicapping but I adjust my numbers based on a number of factors including power ratings, strength of schedules, personnel and injuries. This gives a much better picture of a team’s ability to pass effectively and also being able to defend the pass. Tweaking pass efficiency stats instead of raw passing yards is the key.

Turnovers are the single most frustrating, and at times the most gratifying, aspect of a college football lines, mostly because they are so unpredictable. They are part of the game and most of the time nothing can be done to control them. However, turnovers are contagious and they can carry over from game to game and season to season.

It’s important to know how to forecast these unforeseen events and how to use them to your advantage. You can find ways to give yourself an edge by looking at past histories of teams and coaches and how they have fared in turnover wars in the past. Instead of turnovers hurting you at the wrong times, find ways to use them to your advantage.

As you can see, college football handicapping is very labor intensive and isn’t just based on where teams are ranked in the AP and coaches polls. Experience, coaching and match-ups are all important since unlike the NFL, college teams turn over much more often with new personnel at most positions every single year. Keeping current on this information is vital.

Betting NCAA football can be lucrative if done correctly, but more importantly, it’s just plain enjoyable because it can be beat. College football is one of the best sports to watch with some of the best rivalries taking place in all of sports. The only downfall is that a championship isn’t decided on the field but on a computer-based system that is the Bowl Championship Series. That will change someday and we will all be better off for it.

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