Kings vie to bounce back against Canadiens

Hockey Betting Lines

03/06/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Coming off just their second regulation loss in 14 games, the Los Angeles Kings will try to post their first victory over the Montreal Canadiens in seven years tonight in a meeting at Staples Center.

The Kings came out of the Olympic break flying, as they posted a 5-1 win at Dallas on Tuesday. Los Angeles then concluded its mini-trip on Thursday with a 4-2 loss in Nashville to fall to only 11-2-1 in its last 14 games, but also one point behind Phoenix for fourth overall in the Western Conference.

"We were lacking in intensity and hard work," Kings forward Anze Kopitar said. "We took some lazy penalties and gave them the momentum."

Alexander Frolov scored for Los Angeles to give him three goals and nine points over his last seven games and Drew Doughty also scored for the Kings, who have won five of their last six at home. Jonathan Quick gave up three goals on 31 shots in the loss.

Forward Ryan Smyth hit a milestone in the setback, picking up his 700th career point with an assist on Doughty's goal.

The Kings will now try to halt a four-game slide to the Canadiens. Los Angeles dropped a 4-3 test in Montreal on January 31 of last season and hasn't bested the Habs since March 8, 2003.

Quick posted 22 saves in last season's loss, while Dustin Brown, Jarret Stoll and Michael Handzus all scored goals.

Montreal's current win streak over Los Angeles includes a pair of victories at the Staples Center. Goaltender Carey Price posted 29 saves in last year's home win and was solid as well on Thursday versus San Jose. However, he was beaten twice in a 2:33 span in the third period as the Habs dropped a 3-2 contest to the Sharks.

"He kept us in it and gave us a chance. I wish we could have gotten that win for him." Canadiens defenseman Hal Gill said of Price, who finished with 37 saves.

Scott Gomez and Brian Gionta each had a goal and an assist for the Canadiens, who have lost four of their last six and are now tied with Atlanta and the New York Rangers for the final playoff spot in the East, one point back of seventh-seeded Boston.

Montreal fell to 1-1-0 on a four-game road trip and has lost five of its last seven overall on the road. The Canadiens are 15-16-2 as the guest this season.

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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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