Caps, Flyers meet for first time this season

Hockey Betting Lines

12/20/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Capitals will aim for their sixth straight victory today as they make the trip up I-95 to visit the Philadelphia Flyers for a matinee at the Wachovia Center.

The Capitals have won five straight games to match their longest winning streak of the year. Washington also rattled off five victories in a row from November 6-14.

Washington has also won seven of its last eight contests and is leading the Southeast Division with 43 points.

This afternoon's matchup marks the first meeting between the Flyers and Capitals since Philly won Game 7 of last year's opening-round playoff series in overtime.

The two franchises split their four-game series last season, but Washington has won six of eight and seven of the last 11 versus the Flyers. The Capitals have also won four straight in Philadelphia since going winless in 16 games there.

The Caps earned their most-recent victory in Thursday's home tilt against St. Louis. Viktor Kozlov posted two goals and an assist, as Washington remained dominant on its home ice with the 4-2 decision over the Blues.

The Capitals improved to 13-1-1 at the Verizon Center, but will begin a brief two-game road trip tonight. Washington is just 7-9-2 as the visitor, but has won two straight and three of its last four road tests.

Tomas Fleischmann and Alexander Ovechkin also scored for the Caps. Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom come into today's test with six-game point streaks, while Alexander Semin has recorded a point in five straight outings.

Semin was injured by a cross-check on Thursday and defenseman Mike Green aggravated a shoulder injury. Neither player finished the game and are listed as day-to-day.

Rookie Simeon Varlamov stopped 29-of-31 shots for his second win of the season in as many tries. Varlamov is filling in for the injured Jose Theodore, who has been sidelined since last week with a hip flexor. Brent Johnson, who is 10-4-2 on the season, is expected to get the start for Washington this afternoon.

Meanwhile, the Flyers had a five-game winning streak halted their last time on the ice as the club was slammed by a 5-2 count Thursday in Montreal. Sergei Kostitsyn, Steve Begin and Guillaume Latendresse each posted a goal and an assist, as the Canadiens knocked off Philadelphia at the Bell Centre.

Arron Asham registered a goal and an assist for the Flyers, while Antero Niittymaki allowed five goals on 31 shots in defeat. Niittymaki was starting in place of No. 1 goaltender Marty Biron, who is battling the flu. Biron is questionable for today's contest.

Flyers captain Mike Richards was kept off the scoresheet and had his point streak snapped at eight games. Jeff Carter also had a five-game point streak halted.

Philly is 10-4-3 as the host this year and has won four straight and five of its last six tests at the Wachovia Center. The Flyers will face the Devils in New Jersey on Sunday in what will begin a stretch of seven of eight games on the road for Philadelphia.

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SPORTS BETTING

NFL Football Betting Online

In terms of sports wagering, the NFL is "the most popular game in town." The explanation behind that is easy.

It is called the "pointspread."

Many years ago, NFL games, as well as the more popular college games, used straight odds as a vehicle for betting. For example, if the Bears were playing the Giants, and it shaped up as a competitive contest, the Bears might be, say, a 7/5 favorite. If they were playing an also-ran, it might be 10/1. Well, there is a point where a line becomes prohibitive, as far as betting the favorite. And who would waste money betting an underdog that has virtually no chance? Such a setup did not contribute to promoting betting action.

But in modern sports betting, a "pointspread" is used.

A NFL pointspreads are exactly that, a pre-established point difference between the two sides that will, for all intents and purposes, create a handicap that evens things out, and in doing so, produces comparable wagering activity on both sides of that proposition. So in lieu of a odds figure in which to bet the team to win outright, the Bears might be a three-point favorite over the New York Giants, and a 17-point favorite over the also-ran. Now that the team that is the underdog can "get" points, there can be equal action on both sides.

In sportsbooks, this is usually done with efficiency by charging the losing bettors 10% extra - in effect, bettors are laying 11/10 on those games. So they are actually betting $110 to win $100. If they lose, they pay the "vig." If they win, they simply collect.

The establishment of the pointspread as the corner stone around which team sports like football can be wagered upon was truly what brought gridiron betting into the stratosphere for online football betting .

Don't believe it? Just take a look at what happens around the Super Bowl.

Stay with us here as we take you through the best in NFL action on a consistent basis, with advice columns as well as handicapping selections. If you're looking for college football betting, that's in our NCAA section, which you can reach by clicking here. And if you're looking for a different kind of football, such as the Canadian Football League, which we'll deal with occasionally, or the Arena Football League, which we really like, you can find it in our Miscellaneous section by clicking

Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting odds .
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Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.