Lightning and Pens converge in Tampa

Hockey Betting Lines

02/25/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two of the hottest teams in the NHL over the past few months meet tonight in Tampa, as the Lightning welcome the Pittsburgh Penguins to St. Pete Times Forum.

The Penguins have been the best team in the NHL since the middle of January, posting an amazing 15-1-2 mark in their last 18 games. As a result, Pittsburgh comes into Sunday with 75 points and a hold on the fifth spot in the Eastern Conference standings.

Pittsburgh's latest triumph came in Thursday's overtime decision at Florida. Colby Armstrong's goal with 2:21 left in the extra session gave the Penguins a 2-1 win over the Panthers.

Jordan Staal also scored for Pittsburgh, which bounced back after having its 16-game (14-0-2) point streak snapped by the New York Islanders on Monday.

Jocelyn Thibault stopped 32 shots for the Penguins, which also got the 70th assist of the season from Sidney Crosby. The 19-year-old Crosby has registered a point in six straight games, notching one goal and nine helpers during that span.

Meanwhile, the Lightning are 16-4-1 in their last 21 tests and their 73 points on the year give them a one-point edge over Atlanta for the Southeast lead. Tampa also comes into Sunday as the third-place team in the Eastern Conference.

Tampa Bay did begin its three-game homestand on a down note Friday, as the Boston Bruins handed the Bolts a 6-2 setback. Brad Boyes scored two goals as the Bruins continued their domination of Tampa Bay with the 6-2 romp. Boston has won all four contests against the Lightning this season and has taken eight of the last nine games in the series.

Filip Kuba and Dan Boyle each scored a goal for the Lightning, who had won five of six coming into the game.

Marc Denis started the game in net, but was pulled after allowing two goals on seven shots. Johan Holmqvist finished the game in net and allowed four goals on 16 shots.

The Lightning are 17-14-0 as the home club this year.

The Penguins have lost all three games (0-1-2) against Tampa Bay this year and was swept in a home-and-home series by the Bolts on January 7 & 9. Tampa Bay has taken 11 straight against Pittsburgh, including five in a row on the home ice of St. Pete Times Forum.

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FOOTBALL BETTING LINES

NFL Football Sports Betting

Two playoff teams from 2007 take center stage on the NFL Network Sunday night in a Week 2 NFL betting match-up when the (0-1) New England Patriots betting head south to Florida for a contest with the (1-0) Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

New England HC Bill Belichick couldn’t care less about the way his team plays in the preseason. With a chance to tie last week’s game with the Baltimore Ravens betting, He elected to go for the two-point conversion and outright victory. The conversion failed, and the Pats ended up falling to the Ravens by a 16-15 final count.

New England rolled off twelve unanswered points to give it a chance at securing the victory, but it never threatened to cover the 3.5-point spread. NFL bettors saw this one coming, as they bet the Ravens down from +6 to +3.5 as the week progressed. QB Tom Brady didn’t take part in the Patriots first preseason clash, but could see action this weekend.

His three replacements all put up embarrassing numbers. They went a combined 17 for 33, and threw three interceptions and no touchdowns. The New England defense was encouraging, as they held the Ravens to 2/12 third down conversions and surrendered just ten first downs. That ‘D’ should be bolstered with the addition of former Bucs and Denver Broncos betting safety John Lynch, who could make his Patriots debut on Sunday against his former mates.

HC Jon Gruden had to be impressed with the way his Bucs played on both sides of the ball in their dominating 17-6 victory over the Miami Dolphins in Week 1’s NFL pre-season betting action. Bucs bettors were quite happy with the effort, as they made a mockery of the fact that they were underdogs in the game.

The logjam at the quarterback position didn’t get any easier to separate for Gruden, as all four of his QBs had positive experiences in the first exhibition of 2008. The four combined to complete 28 of their 40 passes for 204 yards and a touchdown, and that was without starting QB Jeff Garcia in the lineup.

RB Michael Bennett had 19 carries and four receptions, totaling 90 yards and a touchdown. Expect to see more of Bennett, Kenneth Darby, and Earnest Graham, as they all compete for playing time with Warrick Dunn in the backfield this season. Defensively, the Bucs recorded four sacks and held the Fins offense in check all day.

First round draft pick Aqib Talib was impressive in the secondary, recording a tackle and two pass defenses in his debut. Don’t be surprised to see Talib in the starting lineup opposite Ronde Barber for the Bucs in ’08.

The betting trends suggest that NFL bettors should be backing the Bucs in this intra-conference exhibition.

These two teams hooked up last year in Tampa Bay, with the Bucs winning that game 13-10. The Buccaneers have only lost one preseason game at home dating back to the beginning of the ’05 preseason. The Patriots have had a mixed bag of results in their recent exhibitions. They have gone 2-2 ATS and SU each of the last three years.

New England currently sits as modest 1-point favorites in this preseason showdown with the ‘total’ now sitting at 34.5.

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