Lightning wrap season series with Panthers

Hockey Betting Lines

02/04/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Lightning could very well be chasing the Florida Panthers for a playoff spot for the rest of the season, but tonight will be the final time that they get to help their own cause in this series.

The two Southeast Division residents wrap their season series with a meeting in Tampa, where the Lightning look to rebound after having their longest winning streak of the season snapped.

Tampa Bay had won five straight games before suffering a 2-1 overtime defeat to Winnipeg on Thursday. With 49 points, the Lightning are nine back of a playoff spot and 10 behind the first-place Panthers.

Tampa was helping its own cause prior to Thursday's defeat, with Victor Headman scoring his team's lone goal. The defenseman potted his first since Oct. 22 and had just returned to action on Tuesday following a 13-game absence because of a concussion.

Martin St. Louis got an assist on Hedman's goal, giving him 10 assists and 13 points over an eight-game point streak, while Mathieu Garon made 22 saves before getting beat at 3:14 of overtime.

The Lightning dipped to 2-0-1 on a five-game homestand and will wrap this residency on Tuesday versus the Kings before road games at the Rangers, Sabres and Penguins.

"It's obviously very disappointing not getting two points," said Hedman. "We have to bear down because we have some big games coming up over the next couple of weeks."

Tonight is the sixth and final regular-season test between these two clubs and the Lightning have won three in a row since suffering a 7-4 loss at the hands of the Panthers at home back on Oct. 17. Tampa notched a 5-1 win at home when the clubs last met on Nov. 26, sweeping a home-and-home set thanks to two goals and an assist by Steven Stamkos and 24 saves from Garon.

Florida will look to split the six-game series and possibly pad its lead again in the division. The Panthers recorded a 2-1 win over the Jets last night, pushing their edge over the second-place Capitals to three points. Winnipeg is five off the pace as well.

Kris Versteeg missed Florida's previous game because of the flu, but returned to deposit his team-leading 20th goal of the campaign. Sean Bergenheim also scored and Scott Clemmensen made 20 saves for the Panthers, who are 3-0-1 in their past four after winning consecutive games for the first time since Dec. 16-18.

It marked the eighth one-goal game for Florida in its past 12 and it has had 28 contests this season decided by the minimum. The Panthers are 13-4-11 in that situation.

"We've had so many one-goal games over the last month to two months," Panthers head coach Kevin Dineen said. "So I like that our guys are building up some character and it will pay off for us down the line."

Florida hits the road for two straight and four of five, but is just 1-4-4 in its last nine as the guest.

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MySportsbook.com: NBA Championship Odds

With the playoffs about two months away, the top two teams in the Western Conference are the clear cut leaders to win the NBA Championship. The Dallas Mavericks have the best record in the NBA (44-9) and have been absolutely scorching since the second week of the season.  What makes the Mavs’ record more impressive is the fact that they dropped their first four games of the season.  Currently they have won 17 out of their last 18 and are MySportsbook.com’s favorite (2-1) to win it all.  Right behind the Mavs are the Pacific leading Phoenix Suns (39-13).  Last season, the Suns lost in the Conference Finals to non-other then the Mavericks four games to two.  Of course the Suns were without center Amare Stoudemire who has is averaging 19.9 PPG and 9.5 RPG since coming back from his knee injury.  Unlike the Mavs, the Suns have struggled a bit lately having lost their last three and four out of their last seven.  Of course the main reason for their three straight loses is due to the absence of two time MVP Steve Nash, who is out with a shoulder injury.  Heads-up, the Mavs have beaten the Suns in both of their meetings this season.

In the Eastern Conference, the Pistons (32-19) are the favorites to win it all at 6-1. The addition of Chris Webber seems to have been a good move for the Pistons.  Since coming over from the 76ers, Webber has averaged 13.1 PPG and 7.3 RPG and the Pistons are 11-4.  Even though the defending champion Heat are currently on the playoff making cusp, they are the Eastern Conference team that is getting the most action to win it all (9-1).  The fact that Shaquille O’Neal is back in the starting lineup after missing 39 games probably has something to do with this.  No doubt, Shaq makes a difference when in the lineup as their winning six out of their last seven would indicate.

Just because it is the All-Star break doesn’t mean that you can’t bet on NBA hoops this weekend.  Be sure to log onto MySportsbook.com to bet on who you think will cut down the nets this July. Also, be sure to check out all of the lines and props for All-Star weekend.  With the highest credit card acceptance rate in the industry, there are plenty of ways to cash in on the NBA this weekend.

MySportsbook.com’s NBA Championship odds:

Atlanta Hawks 1000-1

Boston Celtics 5000-1

Charlotte Bobcats 5000-1

Chicago Bulls 20-1

Cleveland Cavaliers 20-1

Dallas Mavericks 2-1

Denver Nuggets 25-1

Detroit Pistons 6-1

Golden State Warriors 250-1

Houston Rockets 12-1

Indiana Pacers 60-1

Los Angeles Clippers 45-1

Memphis Grizzlies 5000-1

Miami Heat 9-1

Milwaukee Bucks 1000-1

Minnesota T-Wolves 200-1

New Jersey Nets 50-1

New Orleans Hornets 150-1

New York Knicks 150-1

Orlando Magic 75-1

Philadelphia 76ers 1000-1

Phoenix Suns 5-2

Portland TrailBlazers 1000-1

Sacramento Kings 250-1

San Antonio Spurs 9-1

Seattle Sonics 5000-1

Toronto Raptors 35-1

Utah Jazz 20-1

Washington Wizards 25-1

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