Panthers aim for rare win against Wild

Hockey Betting Lines

03/09/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Florida Panthers were able to stop their longest losing streak of the season with victories in their last two games. Now the team will turn its attention towards ending a long winless drought against the Minnesota Wild when the clubs face off this evening at the Xcel Energy Center.

Florida put an 0-6-1 skid to an end with Wednesday's 7-4 decision over Philadelphia at the BankAtlantic Center, then followed up with a 4-1 home win over Carolina on Saturday behind a 31-save performance from goaltender Tomas Vokoun.

Michael Frolik and Kamil Kreps gave Vokoun all the support he would need by scoring within a span of 1:11 in the first period, and Kreps added an empty- net tally in the closing minutes to seal the win.

"We scored seven goals in the game before and were able to get two quick goals in this game," said Frolik. "It's good because it helps us grab the momentum in the game and carry it through. It was a big win for us."

The Panthers hope their recent success can extend to the road, a place where the team hasn't won since January 14. Florida is 0-5-1 in its last six outings as the visitor and scored a mere seven goals over that poor stretch.

Florida has an even longer winless drought against the Wild, having dropped the last seven meetings in this series. Minnesota is 7-1 with a tie over its nine all-time encounters with the Panthers and has outscored Florida 31-13 over the course of those games.

The Panthers' lone victory over the Wild took place in Florida on February 7, 2001. They are 0-3 with a tie in their four previous trips to St. Paul.

Minnesota will be trying to halt a string of back-to-back losses, including Sunday's disappointing 5-2 home setback to fellow Northwest Division member Calgary. Goaltender Nicklas Backstrom, who had yielded only two goals in his last four matchups with the Flames, stopped only 19-of-23 shots in a shaky performance between the pipes.

"I thought we had some breakdowns where we gave them some chances," Wild coach Todd Richards said. "We were already chasing right there, 19 seconds into the game," referring to a quick goal by Calgary's Rene Bourque in the game's initial stages.

One bright spot in Sunday's defeat was Guillaume Latendresse, who scored both Minnesota goals. The Quebec native has lit the lamp seven times in his last nine contests and recorded 21 goals in 30 games since being acquired by the Wild from Montreal in a November 23 trade.

Minnesota is a solid 21-9-2 at the Xcel Energy Center for the season but has struggled there as of late, having dropped three of its last four tests on home ice.

Both clubs enter tonight's tilt seven points out of a playoff spot in their respective conferences. Florida stands 12th in the East with 62 points, while Minnesota's 67 points is good for only 13th place in the West.

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Elite 8 NCAA Tournament Betting at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com

In what should be an outstanding Saturday of March Madness betting action, the top four teams in the South and West Regions square off in what should be extremely close match-ups. Three of the four teams are coming off extremely close games on Thursday evening, only UCLA won semi comfortably over Pitt 64-55.

Ohio State is coming off their second game in a row where in all reality they should have lost. Of course that doesn’t matter now since the name of the game is “survive and advance” but as the tournament continues, they can’t afford to keep getting down to their opponents early. Kansas also avoided a scare by holding off a scrappy Southern Illinois squad. In the third thrilling game of the evening Memphis pulled off the minor upset (+3.5) despite being the higher seed to Texas A&M.

Although the spreads are fairly small for Saturday’s games, MySportsbook.com continue to bet against the underdogs. Despite OSU’s two scares, 86% of the “betting public” feels the Buckeyes (-1.5) have what it takes to make the Final Four. In fact, so much of the early money is on OSU that the line has already moved from -1 to -1.5. In the second game of the doubleheader, Kansas and their high-powered offense are 2 point favorites as they take on UCLA and their effective defense. About 63% of the early money thus far is once again backing the favorites. If those percentages stay that high, don’t be surprised if this line moves as well. If you like Kansas (-2) you might want to jump on it early.

Memphis vs. Ohio State

Both squads were involved in thrillers on Thursday evening and should come out fired up. OSU can ill afford to get behind early like they did versus their previous two opponents (Xavier, Tennessee). Greg Oden needs to stay out of foul trouble; the Buckeyes are a completely different team when he is on the court. Memphis definitely has the athleticism and length to match-up with OSU. Of Memphis’ five leading minute earners, the shortest of the bunch is 6’5”. Each team has a very effective defense; Memphis surrenders 62.3 PPG whereas the Buckeyes give up only 61 PPG. With those type of numbers, it isn’t surprising that Memphis covered the UNDER almost 69% of the time this season. As a favorite, OSU has covered the UNDER almost 66% of the time over the last three seasons. The major concern for Memphis which is magnifies this time of the year is their brutal foul shooting (62%). This season, OSU is 17-11 ATS versus teams with a winning record and 7-2 ATS in all tournament games. Memphis has been an extremely reliable cover in tournament play in recent years with a 23-8 ATS record over the last three seasons.

UCLA vs. Kansas

In the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, UCLA will play in a role which they are very unfamiliar with that of the underdog. Only twice this season have they been getting points from the handicappers and both times they covered. Over the last three seasons UCLA is a reliable 23-7 ATS in this unfamiliar role. UCLA has not fared well against Big 12 opponents recently going 1-7 ATS since 1997. Giving up only 59.6 PPG, UCLA will definitely look to do what they do best: keep this game as low scoring as possible. Their defense has been especially tough during the tournament. UCLA opponents have been able to muster up only 48.7 PPG while shooting a combined 34.5% from the field. UCLA definitely has a challenge at hand with a Kansas team that is capable of putting points on the board in bunches. As a team, they average 79 PPG and shoot an impressive 49.6% from the field and 39.4% from beyond the arc. During the tournament Kansas has been “lights out” from the field having shot 56.2%.

With Friday -105 juice on Basketball betting, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on all of the “March Madness” action.  Don’t forget to monitor who the public is backing at MySportsbook.com’s “Betting Trends”.  By doing so, you have the best chance of predicting a possible line change, thus getting the best value for your wager.

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