Caps welcome Maple Leafs to D.C.

Hockey Betting Lines

12/28/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Capitals will aim for their sixth straight win at home and third in a row overall, as they welcome the Toronto Maple Leafs for this evening's matchup at Verizon Center.

The Capitals, who have an amazing 14-1-1 record as the host this year, have won their last five tilts on home ice. Washington has also notched back-to- back wins and recorded victories in seven of its last eight outings overall.

Washington's most-recent victory came at home on Friday night as the Caps edged Buffalo, 3-2. Alex Ovechkin scored a highlight reel goal in the third period which turned out to be the game-winner for the Caps.

Thomas Vanek's 25th goal of the year cut Washington's lead to 2-1 early in the third, but Ovechkin showed why he is the reigning league MVP with a great individual effort around the midway point of the final period.

After breaking out of his own zone, Ovechkin tipped a pass to himself while turning around a Buffalo defender at the blue-line. He then unleashed a hard shot and fell to the ground while the puck sailed past goaltender Patrick Lalime.

Boyd Gordon and Viktor Kozlov also scored while Jose Theodore turned back 22- of-24 shots for the Capitals, who lead the Southeast Division with 47 points.

Washington will close out the 2008 calendar year on the road, as it visits Buffalo on Tuesday. The Caps will then return home and begin a four-game homestand with a matchup against Tampa Bay on New Year's Day.

When the Maple Leafs beat Atlanta, 6-2, this past Monday it was the club's fifth win in six games. Toronto has since dropped back-to-back games and was outscored by a combined 12-3 margin in those setbacks.

After getting slammed 8-2 by visiting Dallas on Tuesday, the Leafs were handed a 4-1 setback Friday night on Long Island. Bill Guerin scored twice for 400 career goals to lead the Isles past Toronto.

Lee Stempniak notched the only goal for the Maple Leafs and Vesa Toskala was unimpressive in net, allowing four goals on 31 shots in taking the loss.

Toronto, which is 8-9-2 as the visiting team this year, had won two in a row on the road before losing to the Isles on Friday.

Washington earned a 2-1 road win over the Leafs on December 6 in the only meeting between the clubs so far this year. The Caps have taken two of three and four of the last six encounters overall, while Toronto has dropped four of its last six in D.C.

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Mayweather picked to beat De La Hoya
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA -- Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya and his rival Floyd Mayweather Jr. arrived at the MGM Grand here Wednesday amid the pomp and pandemonium befitting two of the biggest stars in the sport who are about to duke it out for the WBC super welterweight crown this Saturday (Sunday in Manila).

As of Wednesday, MySportsbook.com closed its book with Mayweather a favorite to defeat De La Hoya at -170 (a $100 bet wins $70), while De La Hoya is a +140 underdog (a $100 bet wins $140).

Mayweather arrived at about 11:30 a.m. on a big truck with his face and a big "World's Best Pound-for-Pound" sign scribbled across the vehicle. He was accompanied by his entourage made up of rappers and his training team.

A crowd of close to 3,000 eager fans packed the MGM Grand lobby, with their cameras in tow, all trying to vie for position to get a good angle at Mayweather, who is acknowledged as the world's best fighter pound-for-pound.

Eric Gomez, Golden Boy Promotions vice-president, described the fan turnout as "amazing" and swore he had never seen anything quite like this event.

"The crowd was fantastic. Everybody was just too eager to see the two fighters," said ALA manager Michael Aldeguer, who was among those who waited at the lobby together with his ward Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista and AJ Banal.

De La Hoya made his own grand entrance at the hotel lobby at around 12:30 p.m. accompanied by GBP chief executive officer Richard Schaefer and trainer Freddie Roach.

The same group of fans who trooped to see Mayweather also lingered around to get a close look at De La Hoya, who has been secretly working out at a Las Vegas gym for days after arriving from his main training camp in Puerto Rico.

The golden boy then took part in a closed-door afternoon workout with Bautista and Banal. The two, along with Aldeguer and wife Christine, as well as an HBO crew were the only ones allowed inside the gym.

De La Hoya and Mayweather take part in today's final press conference before the official weigh-in this Friday.

Ring Magazine, the acknowledged bible of boxing, reported in its June 2007 issue that 12 out of 20 boxing experts it interviewed have favored Mayweather to defeat De la Hoya, with only 8 favoring the latter.

But Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao said in a recent interview with The Freeman's Emmanuel Villaruel that De La Hoya will win by unanimous decision over Mayweather.

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