Caps get best of Cats thanks to third-period surge

Hockey Betting Lines

02/17/2012 - Sunrise, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alex Ovechkin and Alexander Semin each scored in the third period to lift the Washington Capitals over the Florida Panthers, 2-1, in a key Southeast Division battle.

Tomas Vokoun made 22 saves against his former team to help the Capitals move within two points of the division-leading Panthers.

Washington had been winless (0-2-1) since its 4-0 home win over Florida on February 7. The Panthers had gone 3-1 since that loss to the Capitals last week.

Tomas Fleischmann scored the lone goal for Florida, which got 39 saves from Jose Theodore.

Florida drew first blood with just 39.8 seconds left in the first period. Stephen Weiss carried the puck around the net and passed to Fleischmann, whose one-timer from the left circle beat Vokoun.

The Capitals outshot the Panthers by a 13-4 margin in a scoreless middle stanza.

Ovechkin finally put Washington on the board at the 4:47 mark of the third. With the Capitals on the power play, a scramble for the puck took place in front of Theodore. The disc ended up on Ovechkin's stick and the Russian star found the back of the net.

Semin put the Capitals in front with 6:33 to play, as his slapper from the top of the right circle beat Theodore. The puck deflected of the stick of Florida's Sean Bergenheim and changed direction before getting past the Panthers' netminder.

Vokoun made seven saves in the final frame to preserve the victory.

Game Notes

Washington has taken three of five from Florida this season...Ovechkin has amassed 50 points (23 goals, 27 assists) in 42 career games against the Panthers...Washington started a four-game road trip on Friday...The Capitals went 1-for-6 on the power play, while the Panthers went 0-for-3.

Wwwentercasino Hockey Betting News

<< Wheeler sets in motion a Jets victory over Bruins
Winnipeg, MB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Blake Wheeler totaled a goal and two assists as Winnipeg bested Boston, 4-2, at MTS Centre. Bryan Little tallied twice and Alex Burmistrov once for the Jets, who have won two in a row and four of the last si

<< Grizzlies down Nuggets on Cunningham's buzzer beater
Memphis, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Memphis saw its 23-point lead disappear in the second half, but Dante Cunningham's tip-in with 0.2 seconds left in the game lifted the Grizzlies to a 103-102 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Friday. Rudy G

<< Stuckey fires Pistons to victory over Kings
Auburn Hills, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rodney Stuckey scored a season-high 36 points as the Detroit Pistons outlasted the Sacramento Kings, 114-108, at the Palace of Auburn Hills on Friday. Brandon Knight and Tayshaun Prince each added dou

<< Harden, Durant pace Thunder over Warriors
Oklahoma City, OK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - James Harden scored 25 points in a reserve role and Kevin Durant filled the stat sheet with 23 points, 10 rebounds and six assists in Oklahoma City's 110-87 rout of the Golden State Warrior

<< Canadiens take down Sabres in SO
Buffalo, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Max Pacioretty scored the winner in the shootout, as the Canadiens downed the Sabres, 4-3, on Friday. Carey Price stopped Buffalo's first two attempts in the shootout while Pacioretty and David

Hornets beat Knicks; no last-minute luck for Lin >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Trevor Ariza scored 25 points, Marco Belinelli had 17 and the New Orleans Hornets beat Jeremy Lin and the Knicks on Friday night, 89-85, to snap New York's seven-game winning streak. There wasn't any late-

Love leads Timberwolves over Rockets >>
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kevin Love had 33 points and 17 rebounds and Nikola Pekovic scored a career-high 30, as the Timberwolves downed the Rockets, 111-98, on Friday. Ricky Rubio added 18 points and nine assists for the

Nowitzki, Mavs pull away to beat Sixers >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dirk Nowitzki scored 28 points, including 24 in the second half as the Dallas Mavericks completed a comeback victory over the Philadelphia 76ers, 82-75, at Wells Fargo Center on Friday. Nowitzki's 24

Jefferson, Jazz outlast Wizards >>
Salt Lake City, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Al Jefferson scored 34 points with 12 rebounds and the Utah Jazz snapped a two-game losing streak with a 114-100 win over the Washington Wizards on Friday night. The Jazz also stopped a two-game sli

Avalanche top Oilers >>
Edmonton, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mark Olver and Gabriel Landeskog each had a goal and an assist, as the Colorado Avalanche handled the Edmonton Oilers, 3-1. Erik Johnson also lit the lamp for the Avalanche, who improved to 1-1-1 on a

Football Betting Sportsbook Accepts Credit Cards

Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.

As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.

Bet 2010 Super Bowl Odds

The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.

Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).

But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.

Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.

Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:

Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1

Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2

New York Giants - 9 - 2

Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).

Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.

So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.

And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.

They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.

Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.

But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.

Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.

Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.

Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.

Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?

Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.

In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.

Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.

Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.

The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.

The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.

RSS Sports Betting Odds Feeds

Visit MySportsbook.com for free sportsbook odds RSS feeds go to MySportsbook.com for all your betting football needs.