Devils clinch Atlantic in shootout win over Senators

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04/09/2009 - Ottawa, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brendan Shanahan scored the shootout winner, and the New Jersey Devils wrapped up the Atlantic Division title in a 3-2 win against the Ottawa Senators at Scotiabank Place.

The Devils needed just a point to win the division for the third time in four seasons and did so even before Shanahan lit the lamp by way of Philadelphia's loss to the Rangers earlier in the evening. However, the triumph did give New Jersey its franchise-best 50th win of the season.

New Jersey is now firmly locked into the Eastern Conference's third seed as Washington clinched the No. 2 slot with a win against Tampa Bay earlier Thursday.

Brian Gionta and Brian Rolston scored in regulation while Martin Brodeur made 28 saves for the Devils, who have now won three of four following an untimely six-game slide.

Dany Heatley scored to force overtime with exactly one minute remaining in regulation and Jarkko Ruutu found the back of the net in the first period for the Senators, who were riding a franchise-record nine-game winning streak at home and three-game win streak overall. Alex Auld had 30 saves in defeat.

The Sens' recent stretch earned new head coach Cory Clouston a two-year contract through the 2010-11 season on Wednesday. Clouston took over the for the fired Craig Hartsburg on February 2 with the Senators mired in last place in the Northeast Division at 17-24-7. While Ottawa will miss the playoffs for the first time since the 1995-96 campaign, the team has responded to the coaching change by producing a mark of 19-10-4 under Clouston.

Shanahan's wrister escaped the grasp of Auld and found twine in the top right corner to begin the second round. Brodeur came back to stone Mike Fisher and Jamie Langenbrunner had a chance to win it, but Auld kept the pads together on a low shot.

Brodeur then sprawled to his right and deflected a Jason Spezza backhander up high for the win.

Ruutu was camped to Brodeur's left and was in position to put back the rebound off a Brian Lee slap shot from the right point for the early lead 4:13 into the game.

Gionta and Rolston swung the momentum New Jersey's way with goals 46 seconds apart in the second, but Heatley was able to capitalize on a mad scramble by Ottawa near the end of regulation.

Fisher got behind the defense and even a flailing Brodeur, but chipped a bouncing puck off the right post. The Senators retained possession, though, and Heatley was able to rip one from the slot to tie the game.

Game Notes

The Devils got forward Patrik Elias back after missing the last four games with a lower-body injury. Elias is second on the team in goals (31) and points (78) this season...New Jersey played in its final road game of the regular season and will close the campaign with Saturday's test against Carolina...The Devils are 23-15-3 as the guest this year and had lost six in a row on the road before winning in Buffalo this past Saturday...The Senators are 22-12-7 as the host this year and played their final home game of the season...Ottawa will complete its 2008-09 schedule with Saturday's test in Toronto...New Jersey completed the four-game season series sweep...The Devils have taken six in a row and nine of 11 from Ottawa and have won three straight and four of five in Canada's capital city.

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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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