Bruins shoot for sweep in Philly

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05/07/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Bruins will shoot for a sweep of their Eastern Conference semifinal series when they visit the Philadelphia Flyers for Game 4 tonight at Wachovia Center.

The sixth-seeded Bruins are just once victory away from ending this best-of-seven series and securing a berth to the conference finals for the first time since 1992, when they were swept by Pittsburgh.

Meanwhile, the seventh-seeded Flyers will try to avoid getting swept in front of the home crowd tonight. Philadelphia hasn't been swept since losing the 1997 Stanley Cup Finals to Detroit.

Boston won the first two games of this series on home ice, posting each victory by one goal, and then notched a 4-1 decision in Wednesday's road test in Philadelphia. Blake Wheeler recorded a goal with one assist while Mark Recchi added a key power-play score to hand the Bruins the 3-0 series lead.

Miroslav Satan and Patrice Bergeron also lit the lamp for the Bruins, while Tuukka Rask picked up his seventh win of these playoffs with a 34-save performance.

"We haven't been happy the way we've played in our own end. We thought we were just a little lax back there," Recchi said of his club's first two games. "I think we made the conscious effort coming on the road, playing a real good road defensive game. When we did make mistakes, Tuukka was there."

Arron Asham provided the lone offense for the Flyers and Brian Boucher allowed three goals on only 19 shots in defeat.

Philadelphia has held the lead for a total of 1 minute, 39 seconds in this series and that came after Asham's goal 2:32 into Wednesday's contest. Wheeler scored at 4:11 of the first period and Boston would record the game's final three goals.

"It'd be nice to play with the lead, obviously. We haven't had it at all this series and I don't know what to say," Boucher lamented. "It's frustrating when you don't have the lead and it seems like you are chasing all the time."

The Bruins did lose a key forward to injury in Wednesday's victory, as David Krejci suffered a dislocated right wrist that will keep him sidelined for the remainder of the playoffs. Krejci, who has four goals and four assists in nine playoff games this year, underwent successful surgery Thursday Union Memorial Hospital in Baltimore to repair the wrist.

Krejci was injured on a big hit in the first period by Flyers captain Mike Richards, but the Bruins scored on a breakaway just moments after the collision.

Meanwhile, the Flyers could get an important forward back tonight as winger Simon Gagne is expected to be a game-time decision. Gagne hasn't played since April 20, when he suffered a broken toe on his right foot in Game 4 of Philadelphia's opening-round series against New Jersey.

The 30-year-old has two assists in four playoff games this year and posted 17 goals and 40 points in 58 regular-season contests in 2009-10. Gagne is also one of the Flyers better defensive forwards and could give a boost to the club's special teams.

Philadelphia will need all the help it can get, considering the Bruins are a perfect 16-0 when leading a best-of-seven series by a 3-0 margin. The Flyers have faced an 0-3 series deficit in best-of-seven playoff series six times in franchise history and have only forced a Game 5 on one occasion (2008 Eastern finals vs. Pittsburgh in a five-game defeat).

Only twice in NHL history has a team come back from a 3-0 series deficit to win a series. The last time it happened was in 1975, when the New York Islanders charged back to defeat Pittsburgh in the quarterfinals. The Detroit Red Wings were on the wrong end of the other 3-0 comeback, losing the 1942 Stanley Cup Finals against Toronto.

The Flyers are 2-1 at home in the playoffs and were 24-14-3 as the host during the regular season. Boston is 2-2 on the road in the postseason after recording a respectable 21-13-7 record as the guest during the regular season.

If necessary, Game 5 of this series will take place Monday in Boston.

Boston and the Flyers are meeting in the playoffs for the first time since 1978. Each team has won twice in the four all-time playoff series between the clubs. The Flyers won the most notable matchup, beating Boston in six games to win the Stanley Cup in 1974. The Bruins have won the last two encounters, including a five-game series win over Philly the last time clubs met in the 1978 Stanley Cup semifinals.

The Flyers and B's split four games this year in a season series that included Boston's 2-1 overtime victory in the Winter Classic at Fenway Park. Both the Bruins and Flyers had 2-1-1 records in the series.

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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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