Flyers visit Rangers in Atlantic Division battle

Hockey Betting Lines

03/14/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Flyers hope that they made a statement with their last- second victory on Saturday against one of the best teams in the NHL. They've already made their impression on the Rangers this season.

Philadelphia visits Madison Square Garden this afternoon looking to win for the fourth time in five games, while hosting New York aims to end a lengthy scoring drought against its Atlantic Division rival.

The Flyers squared off with the Blackhawks, the Western Conference's second seed, Saturday afternoon and seemed in danger of losing a close contest. However, Scott Hartnell halted a 13-game goal drought to tie things with 2:04 left in the third before defenseman Chris Pronger tipped a Claude Giroux pass by Chicago's Cristobal Huet with just 2.1 seconds left in regulation for a 3-2 victory.

"It's huge. We didn't want to get this to end in overtime or have it end 4- on-4 or in a shootout," said Pronger. "We need to play with that fire and competitiveness. We had that attitude that we've lost and need to learn how to keep."

All five goals were scored in the third period. Simon Gagne netted the Flyers' first goal and his seventh in the last 10 games while Hartnell found the back of the net for the first time since Jan. 30.

Michael Leighton halted 39 shots in his 13th straight start, as the Flyers improved to 8-2-1 in their last 11 games while remaining tied with the Canadiens for the sixth spot in the East with three games in hand. Philly is also just three points behind fifth-seeded Ottawa.

The Flyers could decide to give Brian Boucher his first start since Dec. 21 in the opener of a four-game road trip. Boucher has made three relief appearances since that start and is 4-3-0 with a 2.51 goals-against average in his career versus the Rangers.

Leighton, meanwhile, notched a 22-save shutout over the Rangers on Dec. 30 and Ray Emery, currently on injured reserve because of hip surgery, then posted a 24-save blanking of New York in Philadelphia on Jan. 21. In fact, New York hasn't scored versus the Flyers since Artem Anisimov's second-period tally in a 2-1 victory at Philadelphia back on Dec. 19, giving the Rangers a 155 minute and 14 second scoring drought in the series.

The Rangers will try to end that drought in the fourth meeting of the season between the teams. Leighton's shutout came in the only matchup so far in New York, as Gagne added a hat trick in the 6-0 victory.

These two clubs end the regular season against each other in home-and-home set on April 9 and 11.

But first, the Rangers will try to get themselves back into the playoff picture. They had lost four straight prior to Friday's 5-2 victory over Atlanta and are three points behind Boston for the eighth spot in the East.

Vinny Prospal had two first-period goals to go along with an assist, while Marian Gaborik also lit the lamp during New York's big opening period. Gaborik finished with two assists as well and Ryan Callahan added a goal and a helper.

"We have another game coming up against Philly so we're going to have to be better," said New York head coach John Tortorella afterwards. "At times we played in spurts so we have some things to work on."

Henrik Lundqvist stopped 29 shots in the win and he is 1-2-0 with a 2.61 GAA in three matchups versus the Flyers this year.

Sean Avery was a healthy scratch for the first time this year on Friday and it is unknown if he will return to the ice today. He was replaced in the lineup last time out by Enver Lisin.

New York begins a three-game homestand today and has dropped six of its last eight at home, going 2-4-2 in that span.

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SPORTS BETTING - Tennis is an underrated and under-utilized bettors' sport.

Ten years ago, at just about this time, I called Alan Boston in Vegas and left him a voicemail that went something like this (abridged version): "Hey Alan, Chad Millman from ESPN The Magazine calling. I want to do a book about wise guys, you in?"

A couple weeks later I got a message back (abridged version): "I don't know, maybe," Boston said. "Call me and we'll talk about it. But not later today. I got $1,000 on Andre Agassi to win the French Open at 40-1, and he's in the finals."

Here's what happened next (abridged version): Agassi won his tourney. Boston won his $40,000. I wrote sportsbook.

In the ten years since, how much has been wagered on the big-time tennis events? Put it this way: The Nevada Gaming Commission doesn't even track the number year by year because it's so small.

"Tennis makes up about one-tenth of one percent of our take," says Lucky's bookmaking boss Jimmy Vaccaro. "The last big golf major we probably had $100,000 worth of bets. In tennis, we might have written two big tickets."

Tennis' lack of popularity amongst the American bettoratti is no surprise, really. For starters, the biggest sports betting holidays -- the Super Bowl, the NCAA tourney -- are must see TV. People, at least the degenerates I know, plan vacations around watching those events in Vegas sports books.

But Wimbledon? Doesn't exactly reel in the whales. "Seriously, it's the nuts as an event," says Boston. "But who even knows when it's on?"

Here's another reason that helps explain why golf gets traction, something I call "The Bubbe Theory." My Bubbe is pushing 95 and has cataracts so bad that, to her, even the most crystalline Chicago day is mostly cloudy. But she still listens to the Cubs games, and she still calls me in a fit if she disagrees with something Rick Telander writes in the Chicago Sun Times. She's a sports fan. If she doesn't know you, you're just filling a niche. And niche players, even historically good ones like Roger and Raf, don't drive betting volume. Only the highest profile names attract square money, which inflates wagering totals like a shot of saline to the lips. Bubbe, and the public, loved Agassi, tennis' last cross-the-rubicon, mainstream draw. She also has a crush on Tiger. She's given me standing orders to put a sawbuck on the big cat whenever I walk through a sports book (or mistakenly tap into one via my Internet machine.) That explains why the Masters is getting $100K in action at some books while the four tennis majors might not get that combined this year.

This isn't a case of tennis being a difficult sport to bet. In fact, in Europe, it's probably the second most popular sport for gambling after soccer. Granted, as the WSJ football betting last week and The Mag's Shaun Assael examined in even greater depth last year, that might be because gamblers across the pond see it as an easy game to fix. But it could also be because, over there it holds the kind of sway the big two do over here.

Street corners in Spain are peppered with public courts and kids doing their best Raffy impressions. In some war torn parts of Eastern Europe poverty-stricken kids view tennis as an escape route, like football or basketball here. A couple years ago The Mag's Lindsay Berra wrote a great piece about Belgrade's Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic. They learned the game as kids while bombs were raining down on their homeland. They practiced in drained swimming pools. Not exactly Nick Bolletierri conditions.

In the United States, casual fans think tennis is played four times a year. But on the tightly packed European continent, national interest in homegrown talent runs deep every weekend. Of the ATP's current top 20 players, only two, tennis betting and James Blake, are American. Fourteen are from Europe, representing six different countries.

No wonder fans from Lisbon to Bhudapest get jacked up for the net game, whether it's Wimbledon or a low-level tourney like the Estoril Open in Portugal (congrats to Spain's Albert Montanes for winning that one, btw). Chances are good that someone representing their flag will not only be playing, but have a shot at winning.

And that's all any bettor can ask for.

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