Caps aim for first home win of March against Hurricanes
Hockey Betting Lines
03/14/2009 -
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Capitals have been one of the NHL's best
home teams this season, but they have yet to find any success on their own ice
during the month of March.
The Southeast Division leaders will try to break a four-game home losing
streak when the playoff-hopeful Carolina Hurricanes skate into the Verizon
Center this evening.
Washington's home skid began with a 6-2 defeat to fellow division member
Florida on March 1 and continued with a 5-2 setback to the Hurricanes two
nights later. The Caps would go on to lose twice more on the residency before
getting back on track with a pair of recent road wins.
After downing Nashville in overtime on Tuesday, Washington rode an outstanding
performance from goaltender Jose Theodore to a 2-1 triumph over Philadelphia
Thursday at the Wachovia Center.
Theodore turned aside 35-of-36 shots, including all nine chances he faced in
the third period to protect the one-goal lead. Alex Ovechkin put the Capitals
ahead when he scored his league-leading 48th goal of the season late in the
second frame.
Alexander Semin set up Ovechkin's tally to extend his scoring streak to eight
games. The Russian forward has totaled six goals and six assists over that
stretch.
Despite their struggles at home as of late, the Capitals still sport an
excellent 25-9-2 record at the Verizon Center this season. Following tonight's
tilt, the team will embark on a five-game road trip beginning Monday in
Atlanta.
Carolina concludes a three-game trek tonight in which it has lost the first
two tests. Both defeats came by a single goal, as the Hurricanes fell in a
shootout to Chicago on Wednesday and came out on the short end of a 3-2
decision at Dallas the following night.
The Hurricanes had won four in a row prior to the Chicago game and are in the
thick of a heated Eastern Conference playoff race. The club is presently tied
with the New York Rangers for the final two postseason berths, but ninth-place
Florida is lurking only one point behind both teams. Carolina also trails
Pittsburgh by just one point for the No. 6 seed in the East.
Cam Ward made 28 saves in Thursday's 3-2 loss to the Stars, but allowed all
three Dallas goals within a nine-minute span in the second period.
Hurricanes captain Rod Brind'Amour had a short-handed goal along with an
assist on the evening and now has compiled seven points (4 goals, 3 assists)
during a five-game scoring streak.
Carolina, which is 12 points in back of the Capitals in the Southeast
standings, is 17-15-5 on the road for the season. The Hurricanes will embark
on a three-game homestand, culminating with a March 21 meeting against
Washington, after tonight's matchup.
These divisional foes have split four previous encounters this season, but the
Hurricanes have lost in four of their last six visits to Washington.
<< Brodeur tries for record-tying win in Montreal
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Montreal is where Martin Brodeur was born and where Patrick
Roy won a plethora of his 551 career victories. It is also where Brodeur will
get his first shot at tying Roy's all-time wins mark.
Just one victory shy of Roy's
<< Flames try for rare road win versus Maple Leafs
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Calgary Flames will aim for their first victory in
Toronto since 2000, as they visit the Maple Leafs tonight and Air Canada
Centre.
The Flames haven't posted a victory in Toronto since December 16, 2000. They
have los
<< Thrashers without Kovalchuk for test with Sabres
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Thrashers will be without their top offensive
weapon tonight when they visit the Buffalo Sabres and HSBC Arena.
The Thrashers notched a 4-3 overtime win against Edmonton on Thursday to post
their fourth victory
<< Pens hope to extend home win streak against Senators
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Despite having their longest winning streak of the season
recently halted, the Pittsburgh Penguins will still try for a fifth straight
win on home ice tonight against the Ottawa Senators at Mellon Arena.
The Penguins begin
<< Blues continue homestand, seek first win vs. Red Wings
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Blues are trying to make their crucial four-
game homestand a successful one. However, success isn't something they have
had this year versus Detroit.
The playoff-hopeful Blues seek their first win over the R
Panthers begin important homestand against Lightning >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Florida Panthers begin what could be their most
important homestand in recent memory with tonight's tussle with the Tampa Bay
Lightning from the BankAtlantic Center.
Florida, which has not reached the postseason since
Wild, Stars face off in Dallas >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two teams feverishly fighting for a playoff spot face off
tonight at the American Airlines Center, where the Dallas Stars host the
Minnesota Wild in a key late-season showdown.
The Stars enter this important matchup tied w
Oilers welcome road-challenged Avs to Edmonton >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - If the Edmonton Oilers are to reach the playoffs, they'll
need to take advantage of an upcoming stretch of home games, especially ones
against teams that have struggled on the road this season.
The Oilers will face such an
Preds try to get on track versus Coyotes >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mired in an untimely three-game losing streak, the
Nashville Predators will be vying to get back on track when they take on the
sliding Phoenix Coyotes tonight at Jobing.com Arena.
Nashville's skid comes immediately after
Sharks aim to dethrone Kings in San Jose >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Jose Sharks hope that a visit from the Kings will
be enough to get them back on track. The club hosts Los Angeles tonight at HP
Pavilion.
The Sharks had led the Western Conference for most of the season, but now fi
NFL owners, already life's biggest winners, want to try their luck with the lottery.
That was the news out of their meetings last week, where team bosses voted unanimously to allow stamping state and local lottery tickets with franchise logos, if, ahem, any governments wanted to do a deal.
A shocker: Within days the Pats announced they'd be sponsoring the Massachusetts state lottery, the Skins said they'd slap their sticker on Virginia scratch-offs and the Ravens admitted they were talking to Maryland lottery bosses. In all likelihood, it won't be long before every team is a presenting sponsor of scratch-offs or just plain old pick fives. "The change in policy was approved 32-0," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. "So you can expect to see more deals soon."
It's a branding opportunity too big for the owners to ignore, and one a couple of dozen baseball franchises have enjoyed for years. The fact the NFL has been slower to act than those slack-brained Seligites is indicative of its complicated relationship with all forms of gambling. Consider this: Last Thursday, as the Pats and the Redskins finalized their new lottery deals, a lawyer representing the NFL argued before Delaware's Supreme Court that the state's newly signed sports betting law should be repealed.
The NFL betting is the face of opposition to sports gambling . And as much as it would like to share that responsibility with other leagues, that's not going to happen as long as more than 40% of all money legally wagered on games is bet on football. That's why the Brewers can do a multi-million dollar deal with a local casino, or the Celtics can make their own pact with the Mass lottery, and the response is, "Sweet, let's play." But when the NFL does it the stakes are higher, and everyone from NPR's Frank Deford to the Associated Press to the guys blogging at Deadspin will line up to play gotcha.
So I asked Aiello, who surely knew there'd be piling on, how the league can rail against being bait for sports bettors, then allow its franchises to be just that for lotteries, the most insidious and addictive form of gambling around. He emailed me this response: "We are not moral crusaders. NFL personnel are permitted to engage in legal forms of gambling, except for betting on NFL games. We are making a distinction here between the spread of gambling on the outcome of our games and supporting state lottery scratch-off games, that have nothing to do with the outcome of our games."
Here's where I should rip him. But, the thing is, he's right. Not to get Obama on you, but this is a complicated, nuanced issue. As much as lotteries are considered a tax on the poor, the NFL isn't a socially obligated government program -- it's just a business. Scratch-off's help the bottom line, sports betting doesn't.
Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors … But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal.
Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors. And it's okay to mutter something obscene when the league pretends gambling doesn't help drive TV ratings and fan interest and put money in owners' pockets. But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal. The Bears should put an orange "C" on every deck of cards dealt at Harrah's in Joliet; the Eagles should slap their logo on roulette wheels at the Borgata in Atlantic City; the Dolphins should hold training camp at the El San Juan in Puerto Rico.
Seriously.
The NFL's problem, when it comes to the gambling world, isn't hypocrisy, it's worse: The bosses lack vision. That's why the league is picking unwinnable fights in Delaware and taking pot shots from critics after making smart sponsorship deals. Roger Goodell and his gang are acting and thinking locally rather than globally, which is rare for them, especially compared to their professional (and amateur) counterparts.
The NBA held its All Star game in Las Vegas and David Stern's kingdom didn't crumble (although the town did bring plenty of players to their knees.) I'd say it's 6 to 5 and pick 'em that Lebron will make a road swing through Sin City before his career is over.
Even the NCAA College Football Betting is more progressive on this issue than the NFL. Several years ago Rachel Newman Baker, college sports' gambling czar, opened a dialogue with Vegas bookmakers to learn about how they do business. She's visited Nevada sports books, studied their operations and listened to how they regulate action. Now she knows she can expect a call from bookmakers, who lose money when sports are fixed, if they think something sketchy is going on in NCAA games. She's not in favor of sports betting, but, as she once told me, "I know it's not going away, either."
The NFL can't seem to accept that. And until it can find peace with the idea, it'll get flack, even when it's right.
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Bonds nearly hits HR 751, SF wins
4 and drove in
a pair of runs, and Barry Bonds nearly hit homer No. 751 as San Francisco beat
1, in the middle contest of three at AT&T Park.
6) allowed five hits and one run over 6 2/3 innings, fanning
eight and walking three.
game slide.
Bonds, who came within five homers of Hank Aaron's record on Friday, went
1 with three walks, an RBI double and scored twice. The double ...
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