Carter lifts Flyers past Isles in OT

Hockey Betting Lines

10/30/2008 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jeff Carter's second goal of the game came with 22.9 seconds to play in overtime as the Philadelphia Flyers downed the New York Islanders, 3-2, at the Wachovia Center.

On the power play in the extra session after Frans Nielsen was called for holding, Mike Richards fired a hard pass from the right boards that hit off the stick of an Islander defender and went to Carter, who wristed it home from the left side for the win.

Mike Knuble had the other goal while Martin Biron made 34 saves for the Flyers, who have won four straight after starting the season with six straight losses.

Bill Guerin and Andy Hilbert each had a goal while Joey MacDonald made 25 saves for the Islanders, who have dropped their past five games.

The Flyers struck first at the 7:45 mark of the opening period. After a right circle faceoff win, Simon Gagne dug the puck out and dished it back to Steve Eminger at the right point. Eminger passed the puck back down to Gagne, who immediately sent it to the slot, where Knuble one-timed it past MacDonald.

The Islanders tied the game 2 1/2 minutes later on the power play as Mark Streit fired a pass from the right point to the high slot where Guerin one- timed it past Biron.

Philadelphia, though, took the lead into the first intermission as Ossi Vaananen blasted a shot from the right point that Carter, parked in front of the net, redirected past MacDonald for a 2-1 lead with 4:31 left in the frame.

The second period was a scoreless affair as Biron made 13 saves and MacDonald stopped all eight shots he faced.

New York, though, tied the game with 7:20 to play in the third. Off a left circle faceoff win, Hilbert had the puck along the right side of the net and he banked a shot off of Vaananen that went past Biron.

The Islanders started the overtime with a power play, but Biron made several nice saves to keep the score tied.

Game Notes

Philadelphia next plays on Sunday when it will host Edmonton...New York hosts Montreal on Saturday...Knuble has a four-game goal-scoring streak...Before the game, the Flyers acquired forward Josh Gratton from Nashville for defenseman Tim Ramholt...Philadelphia has won five straight and eight of nine against the Islanders...New York went 1-for-3 on the power play while Philadelphia went 1- for-4.

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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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