Capitals to feature new look versus Lightning

Hockey Betting Lines

03/04/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Capitals enter tonight's play with the best record in the NHL. The Stanley Cup contenders will also have a much different look when they return to the Verizon Center for this evening's clash with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Washington was one of the most active buyers at the trade deadline, bringing in four notable players in different deals on Wednesday. Defensemen Joe Corvo and Milan Jurcina were acquired from Carolina and Columbus, respectively, while the Caps also added veteran wing Scott Walker from the Hurricanes as well as center Eric Belanger in a swap with Minnesota.

The Capitals gave up a second-round pick in this year's draft for Belanger, who had 13 goals and 22 assists in 60 games for the Wild this season. The club sent defenseman Brian Pothier, minor-leaguer Oskar Osala and a second-round choice in 2011 to land Corvo, an accomplished power-play pointman who matched a career best with 14 goals for the Hurricanes in 2008-09.

Jurcina returns to Washington just over two months after being dealt by the team to the Blue Jackets on December 28. The 6-foot-4, 245-pound Slovakian native had been with the Capitals since the 2006-07 campaign. Walker, 36, is expected to lend experience and leadership for the postseason run.

None of the newcomers were present for last night's 3-1 victory at Buffalo, in which Washington scored twice in the third period to halt a three-game losing streak.

Mike Green snapped a 1-1 deadlock with a one-timer past Sabres goaltender and Olympics star Ryan Miller midway through the final session, and Boyd Gordon tacked on an empty-net goal in the closing seconds to seal the win.

Green has now scored at least a point in six consecutive contests, having notched three goals and six assists over that span.

Jose Theodore did his part as well in Wednesday's win, with the Washington netminder stopping 23-of-24 shots on the night. The former Vezina Trophy winner is now 11-0-2 over his last 13 starts.

The Capitals will be seeking their seventh straight win over the Lightning at the Verizon Center this evening. Washington has taken 13 of the past 14 overall meetings between these Southeast Division foes, with Tampa Bay's lone triumph over that stretch a 7-4 verdict in Florida on January 12.

Steven Stamkos netted a pair of goals in that aforementioned win, and the young Lightning center is carrying a franchise-record 14-game scoring streak into tonight's matchup. The former No. 1 overall draft pick has racked up 12 goals and 13 assists during his binge, with two of those tallies coming in Tuesday's 7-2 home loss to Philadelphia.

Stamkos' second goal gave the Lightning a 2-1 lead early in the second period, but the Flyers would draw even later in the frame before erupting for five goals in the final 20 minutes.

"Hockey is a game of mistakes," said Lightning forward Martin St. Louis. "We had them at 2-1 in the second period, then it's the ones you make a few times in a row that make the difference."

Steve Downie had an assist on one of Stamkos' goals and now has 11 points (4 goals, 7 assists) during an eight-game scoring streak.

The Lightning, who trail both Boston and the New York Rangers by only two points for the eighth and final playoff seed in the Eastern Conference, made one trade at Wednesday's deadline, sending veteran center Jeff Halpern to Los Angeles for right wing Teddy Purcell and a third-round draft choice in 2010. The 24-year-old Purcell had three goals and three assists in 41 games for the Kings this season.

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SPORTS BETTING - Tennis is an underrated and under-utilized bettors' sport.

Ten years ago, at just about this time, I called Alan Boston in Vegas and left him a voicemail that went something like this (abridged version): "Hey Alan, Chad Millman from ESPN The Magazine calling. I want to do a book about wise guys, you in?"

A couple weeks later I got a message back (abridged version): "I don't know, maybe," Boston said. "Call me and we'll talk about it. But not later today. I got $1,000 on Andre Agassi to win the French Open at 40-1, and he's in the finals."

Here's what happened next (abridged version): Agassi won his tourney. Boston won his $40,000. I wrote sportsbook.

In the ten years since, how much has been wagered on the big-time tennis events? Put it this way: The Nevada Gaming Commission doesn't even track the number year by year because it's so small.

"Tennis makes up about one-tenth of one percent of our take," says Lucky's bookmaking boss Jimmy Vaccaro. "The last big golf major we probably had $100,000 worth of bets. In tennis, we might have written two big tickets."

Tennis' lack of popularity amongst the American bettoratti is no surprise, really. For starters, the biggest sports betting holidays -- the Super Bowl, the NCAA tourney -- are must see TV. People, at least the degenerates I know, plan vacations around watching those events in Vegas sports books.

But Wimbledon? Doesn't exactly reel in the whales. "Seriously, it's the nuts as an event," says Boston. "But who even knows when it's on?"

Here's another reason that helps explain why golf gets traction, something I call "The Bubbe Theory." My Bubbe is pushing 95 and has cataracts so bad that, to her, even the most crystalline Chicago day is mostly cloudy. But she still listens to the Cubs games, and she still calls me in a fit if she disagrees with something Rick Telander writes in the Chicago Sun Times. She's a sports fan. If she doesn't know you, you're just filling a niche. And niche players, even historically good ones like Roger and Raf, don't drive betting volume. Only the highest profile names attract square money, which inflates wagering totals like a shot of saline to the lips. Bubbe, and the public, loved Agassi, tennis' last cross-the-rubicon, mainstream draw. She also has a crush on Tiger. She's given me standing orders to put a sawbuck on the big cat whenever I walk through a sports book (or mistakenly tap into one via my Internet machine.) That explains why the Masters is getting $100K in action at some books while the four tennis majors might not get that combined this year.

This isn't a case of tennis being a difficult sport to bet. In fact, in Europe, it's probably the second most popular sport for gambling after soccer. Granted, as the WSJ football betting last week and The Mag's Shaun Assael examined in even greater depth last year, that might be because gamblers across the pond see it as an easy game to fix. But it could also be because, over there it holds the kind of sway the big two do over here.

Street corners in Spain are peppered with public courts and kids doing their best Raffy impressions. In some war torn parts of Eastern Europe poverty-stricken kids view tennis as an escape route, like football or basketball here. A couple years ago The Mag's Lindsay Berra wrote a great piece about Belgrade's Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic. They learned the game as kids while bombs were raining down on their homeland. They practiced in drained swimming pools. Not exactly Nick Bolletierri conditions.

In the United States, casual fans think tennis is played four times a year. But on the tightly packed European continent, national interest in homegrown talent runs deep every weekend. Of the ATP's current top 20 players, only two, tennis betting and James Blake, are American. Fourteen are from Europe, representing six different countries.

No wonder fans from Lisbon to Bhudapest get jacked up for the net game, whether it's Wimbledon or a low-level tourney like the Estoril Open in Portugal (congrats to Spain's Albert Montanes for winning that one, btw). Chances are good that someone representing their flag will not only be playing, but have a shot at winning.

And that's all any bettor can ask for.

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