Brodeur, Devils shut out Rangers

Hockey Betting Lines

02/07/2012 - New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Martin Brodeur extended his NHL record with the 117th shutout of his career, as the New Jersey Devils made a first period goal stand up in a 1-0 win over the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden.

David Clarkson tallied the only goal for the Devils, who have now won five straight.

The Rangers appeared to tie the game with 3.5 seconds left, but Marian Gaborik crashed into Brodeur and was called for goalie interference, negating Artem Anisimov's potential equalizer.

Henrik Lundqvist was again marvelous in net, stopping 21-of-22 shots, but saw a personal four-game winning streak come to an end. New York, meanwhile, lost for only the second time in its last six games overall.

Brodeur, though, was the story, as the four-time Vezina Trophy winner stopped 30 shots, including 15 in the final period, to secure his first shutout since blanking the Pittsburgh Penguins on March 25 of last season.

It looked as if he would be denied the shutout late. With the Rangers net empty and time ticking down, Ryan Callahan wristed a shot from the left circle that Brodeur pushed aside. Gaborik then went into Brodeur, knocking him backwards into the net, while Anisimov buried the putback, only to see it waved off by a penalty.

The Rangers had their chances in the third period and outshot the Devils, 15-1. New York was also 0-for-3 on the power play and is scoreless in its last 17 tries with the extra skater.

The Devils took advantage of a Stu Bickel holding call and cashed in on the power play 8:14 into the opening period. From behind the net Zach Parise found a streaking Clarkson, who beat Lundqvist glove side for his 21st goal of the season.

Clarkson now has five goals in his last five games, while Parise extended his point streak to six games (5g, 3a).

Petr Sykora almost made it a two-goal game late in the first period, but his rocket from the top of the right circle hit the crossbar with time winding down.

The Rangers had a pair of terrific chances in the second period. Shortly into the period Brandon Prust missed the net, while with time ticking down in the stanza Brodeur used the left glove to turn aside a terrific opportunity from Carl Hagelin.

Game Notes

Lundqvist has allowed one goal or fewer in 11 of his last 19 games, and has held opponents to two or fewer goals in 27 games this season...The Devils have outscored the opposition 21-12 during their five game win streak.

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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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