Capitals, Panthers ready for Southeast showdown

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03/17/2009 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Florida Panthers will try to avoid their longest losing streak in 2 1/2 months this evening, when they take on the Southeast Division- leading Washington Capitals at BankAtlantic Center.

The Panthers have lost three straight and four of their last five games. That skid has come at a bad time, as the club is now ninth overall in the Eastern Conference, a point behind eighth-seeded Carolina.

Florida hasn't dropped four in a row since doing so from December 26-31.

The Panthers' losing streak was extended on Saturday with a 4-3 shootout setback to Tampa Bay. After a spirited overtime, the Lightning's Steven Stamkos lit the lamp to give the Lightning the edge in the first round of the shootout. David Booth and Michael Frolik then came away empty on their subsequent chances for Florida to give the Lightning the win.

Booth had two goals and a helper in regulation -- including the 50th of his career, and Frolik also netted a goal.

The Panthers were without defenseman Bryan McCabe, who has missed the last three games due to facial surgery required after he was hit with a puck versus St. Louis on March 7. McCabe has 12 goals and 21 assists in 56 games this season and could return tonight.

Florida lost the opener of a five-game homestand and is 18-9-6 as the host this year.

The Capitals will try to hand the Panthers another home setback this evening and rebound from a 5-1 loss to Atlanta last night, the Thrashers' franchise- record sixth win in a row.

Jose Theodore started the game in net, but was pulled after giving up four goals on 19 shots for the Capitals, who had both a three-game overall winning streak and a five-game road run stopped. Simeon Varlamov came on in relief and allowed one goal on six shots.

Eric Fehr scored late in the third period for Washington, which sits in the third spot in the Eastern Conference with 92 points, one behind New Jersey.

Washington was without defenseman Mike Green due to flu-like symptoms and he is questionable again for tonight. Green leads all NHL blueliners with 24 goals and 60 points.

Alex Ovechkin failed in his first chance to become the first Capitals player to ever notch three separate 50 goal seasons in last night's loss. He also had a 10-game point streak end (7 goals, 7 assists), while Alexander Semin had his nine-game run halted (7g, 9a). Semin is also one goal shy of his 30th of the season.

Washington is 17-13-4 on the road and plays the second contest of a five-game swing tonight.

The Capitals and Panthers have split four meetings so far this year, but Washington has won four of the six overall in the series. The club has also won in two straight and three of its last four visits to BankAtlantic Center.

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SPORTS BETTING: NFL Football Sportsbook Betting

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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