Canucks rally in third to beat Preds

Hockey Betting Lines

03/07/2010 - Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jannik Hansen scored the game-winner in the third, as the Vancouver Canucks rallied for a 4-2 win over the Nashville Predators.

Henrik Sedin had a goal and an assist, while Alexander Edler and Mikael Samuelsson each lit the lamp for the Canucks, who have won three of their last four.

Roberto Luongo made 33 stops for Vancouver, which notched its 40th win on the season in its 65th game. It's the fastest that Vancouver has gotten to 40 wins in franchise history.

Vancouver, which is 7-5-0 in its NHL-record 14-game road trip, plays in Colorado on Tuesday.

Jason Arnott and Jordin Tootoo each had a goal for the Predators, who have dropped their last two games. Pekka Rinne gave up three goals on 27 shots.

Trailing by a goal in the third, Vancouver tied the game at 2-all halfway through the frame. Samuelsson was able to catch up to a rolling puck at the outside right circle, and he blasted it into the top of the net.

A bit over four minutes later, the Canucks took a 3-2 advantage, as Hansen was sprung on the breakaway and saw his wrister stopped but followed up and slammed home the rebound.

Nashville got Rinne out of the net for the extra attacker, but Sedin sealed the win with the empty-netter.

At the 11:10 mark of the first period, the Canucks took the lead. Pavol Demitra, who was without his stick, kicked the puck along the boards from the left point, and it went down to the deep right side. Ryan Kesler gathered the disc and sent a pass out front for Edler, who sent a low wrist shot just inside the left post.

Nashville, though, got the goal back with 6:16 to play in the first, as Arnott's slap shot from the right circle went off the knob of Luongo's stick and into the net for a power-play goal.

The Predators took the lead 7:25 into the second period. A turnover from Demitra in the attacking end saw Nashville take the puck down the ice. From the left circle, Tootoo blasted a shot on net that Luongo stopped, but Tootoo followed up his shot and chipped the rebound over the goaltender for a 2-1 advantage.

Game Notes

Nashville hits the road for four games starting in Atlanta on Tuesday...Samuelsson's goal was his 24th of the season, a new career- high...Each team won twice in the season series...Nashville went 1-for-2 on the power play, while Vancouver failed on one chance with the extra attacker.

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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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