Thrashers, Lightning to battle for Southeast supremacy

Hockey Betting Lines

02/22/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pivotal matchup in the Southeast Division is scheduled for this evening, when the Atlanta Thrashers will open the doors of Philips Arena for the rival Tampa Bay Lightning.

The clubs come into tonight's contest tied atop the Southeast with 71 points apiece. The winner of this evening's game will not only take over first place in the division, but will also occupy the third spot in the Eastern Conference.

Tampa Bay has held the upper hand in the season series with the Thrashers so far, winning four of the six meetings. The Lightning have won nine of the last 14 overall matchups between the teams and have also walked away victorious in five of their last seven trips to Atlanta.

Atlanta is 14-9-5 as the home club this year, while the Lightning are a solid 17-11-3 on the road.

The Lightning have made this a tight race recently by winning four of five and eight of their last 10 games. The club continued its winning ways on Tuesday, earning a close decision over visiting Florida.

Martin St. Louis scored the game-winner in the shootout and added a goal in regulation to lead Tampa Bay to the 3-2 triumph over the Panthers at St. Pete Times Forum.

With the shootout tied at 1-1, St. Louis had the third shot for the Lightning and buried the puck between the pads of Ed Belfour to give his club the advantage. Steve Montador had the last opportunity for Florida, but Marc Denis poked the puck off of Montador's stick to give the Lightning the win.

Ryan Craig scored Tampa's other regulation goal and Denis finished the game with 28 saves for the Lightning.

St. Louis, Vincent Lecavalier and Brad Richards each come into this evening's encounter with five-game point streaks.

The Thrashers were able to end a four-game losing streak on Tuesday night, as they downed the Hurricanes in Carolina. Johan Hedberg made 33 saves to lead Atlanta to a 3-1 triumph in another big Southeast Division battle.

Marian Hossa had a goal and an assist and Ilya Kovalchuk scored the game- winning goal for the Thrashers.

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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.