Cleary's hat trick paces Red Wings past Blue Jackets

Hockey Betting Lines

12/29/2006 - Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Daniel Cleary had a hat trick, tallying the game-winning goal with 5:19 remaining in regulation as the Detroit Red Wings needed a late rally to defeat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 7-4, in a Central Division matchup at Nationwide Arena.

Pavel Datsyuk also had a pair of goals, while Robert Lang added three assists for Detroit, which has won four of its last five games. The Red Wings were bolstered by the return of Lang, who was back in the lineup after exiting Wednesday's game against Minnesota with the flu.

Henrik Zetterberg and Danny Markov also scored and Chris Osgood made 21 saves between the pipes.

Ron Hainsey, David Vyborny, Dan Fritsche and Adam Foote scored for Columbus, which has lost two of three. Fredrik Norrena surrendered six goals on 35 shots.

With his team trailing 4-3, Datsyuk's eighth goal of the season was the start of four straight third-period goals by Detroit. The center made the play by himself, as he eluded a diving defenseman just inside the blue line, weaved between a couple players and found a seam, beating Norrena through the five- hole to make it a 4-4 game with 8:36 remaining in the contest.

A few minutes later, an initial wrist shot by Lang over the glove of the Columbus netminder looked to be the deciding goal in the contest. After the game, the official scoring was changed to reflect that Cleary tipped the disc, giving him three goals on the night and 17 on the season.

Datsyuk's quick deflection through the netminder's skates gave the Red Wings a two-goal cushion with 1:45 to play, and Markov added an empty net goal just 12 seconds later.

Detroit blew a three-goal lead early on.

Markov ripped a shot from above the left faceoff circle that Norrena deflected, and Lang got a piece of the disc before Cleary, battling against Anders Eriksson in front, converted on the rebound to put Detroit up by a 1-0 margin at 4:21 in the opening period.

Cleary scored his second of the night with four minutes left in the stanza. On nearly the same play that netted the first score, Brett Lebda rifled a slapshot at the net that Lang managed to collect before sending a backhand pass to Cleary. The right winger was all alone in the slot and wristed a shot past Norrena to give Detroit a 2-0 lead with four minutes left before intermission.

Zetterberg wristed a shot into the top right corner of the net, over the glove of the sprawling Norrena, to make it a 3-0 game at 8:45 in the second.

Hainsey finally put the Blue Jackets on the board with 7:28 remaining to cut the deficit to two goals. Eriksson started the play by faking a shot from just off the blue line and then dished to Hainsey. With traffic in front of the crease, the puck skipped between several players and beat Osgood for the 3-1 score.

Columbus struck again just 1:28 later, as Vyborny stole the puck during a scrum in the corner of the offensive zone, skated past Osgood and then lifted a backhand shot underneath the crossbar for his 100th career NHL goal and 100th as a Columbus Blue Jacket.

A power play goal by Fritsche tied the game at 3-3 at 3:15 in the final stanza. With Lang off for holding, Detroit won the draw in the neutral zone before the Jackets put the puck in deep. Seconds later, Fritsche flicked a wrist shot toward the net that eluded Osgood, finding room between the netminder's glove and the near post.

"Detroit is an East-West team, and they move the puck unbelievably, laterally across the ice" said Fritsche. "Their puck movement is the best in the league, by far. You just have to be patient and make sure you are sound defensively."

Foote's blazing slapshot from the point gave Columbus its first lead of the contest just over two minutes later. The goal once again came on the man- advantage, as Foote bested Osgood on a 51-foot slapshot to make it 4-3.

"Obviously things were going wrong (at that point)," Detroit head coach Mike Babcock said. "Things were going bad and it would have been easy for us to fold, but we didn't. We scored and got it started, and we went from there. In the third period we decided that we weren't going to lose."

Game Notes

The Red Wings have won 26 of the 33 all-time meetings with the Blue Jackets, losing only five in regulation and another in a shootout. One other contest ended in a tie...Blue Jackets netminder Pascal Leclaire had arthroscopic knee surgery Thursday and is expected to miss at least six weeks. Ty Conklin was recalled from Syracuse to serve as Norrena's backup...Vyborny has 16 points in his last 11games (6G, 10A)...Columbus went 2-for-4 on the power play, while Detroit converted on 1-of-3 chances.

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How did changes to college football betting rules affect bettors?

The 2007 college football rules changes that were implemented to shorten games are now history. The NCAA rules committee did what they set out to do; games were cut by an average of 14 minutes per game last season. There were also, on average, 14 fewer plays per game. We’ll get into how that did (or didn’t) affect games in regards to the pointspread a bit later.

While the NCAA rules committee may have had the betterment of the game in mind, they'll now “turn back the clock” for next season. Two key rules have now been overturned by the NCAA committee for the 2007 season, something definitely for the better.

For those of you who may not remember what those rules actually were, let us refresh your memory.

1) The first one was actually starting the clock on a kickoff as soon as the kicker touched the ball rather than waiting until the returner touched it. The problem here was near the end of the half (or game), if the team leading was kicking off, they could milk the clock by intentionally running offsides and then re-kicking. They could run 10-15 seconds off the clock each play while taking just five-yard penalties each time. They could run the clock down and simply cause the half (or game) to end on a kickoff, keeping the opposing offense off the field. In 2007, the clock will now start when the returner touches the ball as it had before last season.

2) The second rule dealt with starting the clock after a change of online football betting possession rather than waiting until the ball was snapped. This took a lot of time off the clock throughout the game as teams changed possession, however it caused the most problems late in games (or halves). Rather than huddling up and calling a play, the offensive team would have to rush onto the field as the clock started. This was a definite disadvantage to a team that was trying to come from behind late in the game. This year the clock will start on a change of possession, after the ball is snapped.

How did those rules affect the college game last year and will it make a difference this year when it comes to the pointspread? We commonly heard two theories when it came to these changes. First, it would affect scoring negatively. Second, it would hurt favorites as they would have less time and fewer plays to cover the number.

Did the rules hurt scoring? Yes. It seemed obvious that shortening the game by what amounted to 14 plays would push scoring downward. That was the case last year. Of the 119 Division 1A teams, 69 squads scored fewer points in 2007 than they did in 2005. Just 48 teams had a higher PPG scoring average and two stayed the same. Almost 59 percent of the teams in college football last year had a lower PPG average than they did in 2005. Expect more scoring in 2007 as we revert back to the old rules.

Did the rules hinder favorites from covering the number in 2007? Not really. Last year the favorites posted an overall spread record of 336-350-16 (48.9 percent). The year before, favorites were 316-326-13 (49.2 percent). In 2004, the favorites were 316-339-2 (48.2 percent). In fact, college football favorites have been above 50 percent for the season just once in the last seven years (in 2003). Last year’s numbers fell right in line with where they have been historically.

How about big favorites? The rules must have hurt them? Maybe a little bit. Double-digit favorites last year came in at a 47.8 percent clip compare with an average of just over 50 percent over the last seven years. Since 1980, favorites of -10 or more have covered at exactly a 50 percent clip (measured over 6,716 games).

Even bigger favorites must have struggled? Not really. In fact, it was just the opposite. Favorites of three TD’s or more were 59-54-2 last year (52.2 percent). Since 2000, those same favorites (-21 or higher) hit at 51.3 percent and since 1990 came in a clip of 50.3 percent. Stepping it up a notch to four TD favorites or higher, we actually see they've covered at a much better rate last season than before. Last year, favorites of -28 or more were 31-21-1, or almost 60 percent. Historically, four-TD-or-higher favorites have come in at a 50.7 percent spot since 2000 and only 48.9 percent since 1990. The “perceived” problem with the favorites covering at a reduced rate really never came to fruition.

Bottom line is, there might be some more scoring in 2007, but no real revelations when it comes to finding any pointspread golden nuggets.

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