Panthers hope to string together win streak vs. Jets

Hockey Betting Lines

02/03/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Florida Panthers will try to win consecutive games for the first time since mid-December when they host the Winnipeg Jets for tonight's clash at BankAtlantic Center.

The Panthers lost their last game before the All-Star break, but emerged from the hiatus with Wednesday's important 4-2 win over Washington. That victory moved Florida a point ahead of the Capitals for the top spot in the Southeast Division and the Panthers can extend that lead over idle Washington tonight.

A victory this evening would give the Panthers consecutive wins for the first time since they defeated Calgary and Carolina on Dec. 16 and 18, respectively. Since those back-to-back triumphs, Florida has gone 5-6-5 over its last 16 trips to the ice.

The Panthers received two goals from Mikael Samuelsson in Wednesday's regulation win over Washington. Shawn Matthias also provided a late insurance goal for Florida, which still has four games against the Capitals left on its docket.

Stephen Weiss added a goal and Tomas Fleischmann totaled two assists for the Panthers, while Scott Clemmensen made 26 saves in the victory.

Florida beat Washington without the help of leading scorer Kris Versteeg, who sat out the game with flu-like symptoms. Versteeg, who is pacing the Panthers with 19 goals and 43 points, was at practice on Thursday and is expected to play tonight.

Panthers goaltender Jose Theodore (knee) and forward Jack Skille (shoulder) are questionable.

Florida is capping a three-game homestand tonight and is 12-5-7 as the host this year. Following this evening's tilt, the Panthers will play four of their next five games on the road.

The Jets have also won two in a row and will try for their first three-game winning streak since Dec. 27-31 when they take the ice tonight. Winnipeg played Thursday evening in Tampa and Kyle Wellwood scored at 3:14 of overtime to give the Jets a 2-1 victory over the Lightning.

Blake Wheeler escaped a Bolts checker along the left-wing boards, moved to the net and slipped a pass across to Wellwood, who lifted the puck into the top half of the net to end the contest.

"I was just trying to circle around and see what was going on with the play," said Wellwood. "Blake made a great pass and my first instinct was to shoot it."

Wheeler added a score for the Jets, while Ondrej Pavelec stopped 30-of-31 shots for the victory.

The Jets welcomed back a pair of key players to the lineup on Thursday in defenseman Dustin Byfuglien and forward Alex Burmistrov. Byfuglien saw his first action since December 23 after dealing with a lower-body issue, while Burmistrov had sat out two games with an upper-body injury.

Byfuglien posted an assist and skated over 25 minutes on Thursday. Despite missing 16 games with his injury, he is still leading all Winnipeg defenseman this season with 25 points. Burmistrov was held off the scoresheet on Thursday and the 20-year-old has nine goals and nine assists this season.

Jets forward Evander Kane, who leads the team with 18 goals, is still out indefinitely with a concussion.

Winnipeg is playing the fifth test of a six-game road trip tonight and will close the swing Sunday in Montreal. The Jets are just 9-14-4 on the road this year compared to a 15-8-2 mark at home.

The Panthers have taken two straight road games from the Jets after losing this year's series opener in Florida back on Oct. 31. The Atlanta/Winnipeg franchise has won four straight in Sunrise.

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Betting the NFL preseason

Rule No. 1 in the gamblers' handbook states, "Avoid sports betting on meaningless games."

When you're drowning in a sea of baseball monotony, however, things change. Even a hint of pro football betting can persuade the most disciplined bettor to break a few rules. 

The NFL preseason is around the corner, with a tempting Hall of Fame match kicking off on Sunday. But bettors must stay vigilant. Wagering on NFL exhibition games is an entirely different beast than the regular season. Most fans don't recognize the players on the field because starters get as much action in August as Warcraft fans get on Prom night.

The only certainty about the NFL this time of year is uncertainty – and yet there are some who say betting in August can be a gold mine.

“I actually feel the NFL preseason presents solid profit opportunities for sharp bettors and handicappers,” Sports Expert Steve Merril explains. “My experience has been that the sportsbooks fear the preseason, which is evident by lower limits and massive moves.”

The line moves are attributed to the limited knowledge available regarding playing-time distribution. One team’s top unit out on the field for one more series has an impact on the pointspread. Setting lines in the preseason often is a shot in the dark.

“We base the betting lines mostly on public perception,” Pete Korner, founder of the Sports Club in Las Vegas, says. “It’s very tough to predict, almost a guessing game.”

The preseason is all about figuring out who’s in and for how long.

“It becomes a race between bettors and oddsmakers to find out how long the quarterbacks are going to stay in,” Korner admits. “If a sharp gets the information first, he could exploit an early line. I’m a full believer in moving the line in the preseason if the books find out something late in the week.”

Determining what each team’s motive is can help bettors handicap. To do this you must pay close attention to the philosophies head coaches employ in exhibition play.

“You need to know what a coach is trying to accomplish,” says Covers Expert Bryan Leonard. “Sometimes a new coach will want to instill a winning attitude. Others just want to make sure their starters don’t get hurt."

So how do you distinguish who’s playing scared and who’s playing for keeps?

“Head coaches on the hot seat or new coaches trying to implement a winning attitude usually try harder to win in the preseason,” Merril says.

Cleveland Browns head coach Romeo Crennel fits this criteria. He’s entering his third season as the sideline boss and has yet to lead the Browns to more than six wins.

Cleveland is an enticing bet as well because of the unresolved quarterback situation. General manager Phil Savage sacrificed the Browns’ first-round pick in next year’s draft for Brady Quinn, but the former Notre Dame quarterback hasn’t signed or reported to training camp yet.

Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson split time at QB last season and it looks like either player (or even Quinn) could be the opening-day starter.

“If a team has quarterback depth and the pecking order hasn’t been decided, it’s a big advantage,” Leonard says.

Even in the third week of the preseason when starters generally play the most, the final outcome of the game is in the hands of fringe players. A team's talent, all the way down to the last man on the roster, is something to consider.

The New England Patriots have long been considered one of the deeper teams in the NFL and coach Bill Belichick has said in the past he’s unafraid of stars getting hurt in games with nothing on the line. He shocked his colleagues in 2003 by playing some of his starters on special teams in the preseason.

“We want to have the team ready to play a tough, physical game and preparation has to go into that and I imagine a certain amount of injuries go with it,” Belichick told the Providence Journal in August 2003.

Bettors can only hope to find more teams that share the Pats' business-like approach to the preseason (New England is 17-9-3 against the spread since 2000) and take advantage of teams who detest the exhibition schedule.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on football needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.