Bolts host Panthers in home-and-home finale
Hockey Betting Lines
12/27/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Lightning will shoot for a home-and-home sweep as well as their third consecutive victory overall when they welcome the Florida Panthers for a battle at St. Pete Times Forum.
The Lightning edged Florida in a shootout on Friday night in Sunrise to kick off the home-and-home set. It was the second straight win for Tampa Bay, which also earned a victory Tuesday in Pittsburgh.
Tampa had won back-to-back games on just one other occasion this season, when it picked up three straight victories from October 28 to November 1. The Bolts had lost three in a row and 12 of 13 games before winning their last two tilts.
Ryan Malone notched the game-winner in the fourth round of the shootout as Tampa Bay blew a two-goal lead but topped Florida, 4-3, at BankAtlantic Center on Friday.
After Lightning goalie Mike Smith foiled Stephen Weiss to open the fourth round, Malone stuck a forehander to the stick side on Florida netminder Craig Anderson.
Steve Eminger netted a goal and two assists for the Lightning. Mark Recchi and Evgeni Artyukhin also tallied while Smith came up with 25 saves.
Keith Ballard, Cory Stillman and Bryan McCabe scored for the Panthers, who have dropped three of five, but were coming off consecutive shutout victories.
Starter Tomas Vokoun allowed three goals on 27 shots through two periods. Anderson stopped all eight shots he faced in the third period and overtime. Vokoun had notched the back-to-back shutouts for Florida before getting solved by the Lightning early in Friday's game.
Florida is 2-0-1 against the Lightning this year, winning a 4-0 home decision on November 12 before posting a shootout victory in Tampa less than a week later. Despite Friday's loss the Panthers have taken four of six in the series and have won two of three in Tampa.
The Lightning are just 3-6-6 as the host team this year, while Florida is 8-9-2 on the road.
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Rangers will try to avoid losing three straight games for the first time this season when they welcome the rival New Jersey Devils for an Atlantic Division showdown at Madison Square Garden. The Devils and Ran
<< Sliding Blue Jackets welcome Flyers to town
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Columbus Blue Jackets will try to avoid a fourth
straight loss and snap a lengthy scoreless drought when they invite the
Philadelphia Flyers for tonight's interconference matchup at Nationwide Arena.
The Blue Jackets h
<< Bruins shoot for seventh straight win in visit to Carolina
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Bruins will aim for their seventh consecutive
victory when they visit the Carolina Hurricanes for this evening's matchup at
RBC Center.
The Bruins, who lead the Eastern Conference and Southeast Division with 54
<< Habs, Pens meet in the Steel City
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Montreal Canadiens will kick off a four-game road trip
when they visit the Pittsburgh Penguins for this evening's battle at Mellon
Arena.
The Canadiens have played just one road game so far in December and that was a
<< Isles visit Sabres, aim for consecutive wins
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fresh off their first win in December, the New York
Islanders will try for back-to-back victories when they visit the Buffalo
Sabres for tonight's matchup at HSBC Arena.
The Islanders ended their longest losing streak in 1
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Coming off their best offensive output of the year, the last-place Dallas Stars begin a three-game homestand tonight against the visiting Anaheim Ducks at American Airlines Center. Just one season removed from a Western Co
Sharks try to continue dominance of Blues >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Though the San Jose Sharks have been most vulnerable on the
road this year, they haven't had much trouble winning in St. Louis as of late.
They will try to extend their winning streak in the Gateway City to eight
games tonigh
Red Wings, Avs clash in Colorado >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Red Wings will try to rebound from just their
third loss of December when they visit the Colorado Avalanche for this
evening's battle at the Pepsi Center.
The Red Wings and Avs have built a fierce rivalry with
Coyotes welcome Kings for home-and-home finale >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Phoenix Coyotes will aim for a home-and-home sweep of
the Los Angeles Kings when they host the finale tonight at Jobing.com Arena.
The series between these Pacific Division foes began in Los Angeles on Friday
and the C
Sens head west to face Flames >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Ottawa Senators begin the western part of their eight-
game road trip tonight, as they visit the Calgary Flames and Pengrowth
Saddledome.
Ottawa kicked off its longest road trip of the season on Tuesday in
Philadelphi
American Idol odds : Blake Lewis the Early Standout
An important American Idol betting lines recap from February 20 Guys episode. The 12 men came out flat overall with Blake Lewis appearing to have the early edge after the first hour and a half.
Rudy - was quite good singing "Free Ride" to start off. Randy was not impressed though. Paula thought he started off fantastic. "Never had anyone stop off so lively" said Paula but Simon (who does not like Rudy) does not feel he has a distinct voice and was not impressed either.
Brandon was a little pitchy according to Randy and Paula agreed. Simon said he was a good singer but the song was "too safe" and he needs to make an impact. He was listed at +1200 odds or $1200 paid out on a $100 bet should he win the competition.
Big favorite Sundance came in with a flat version of "Knights in White Satin" and the judges let him have it, including Paula. Randy claimed the song was out of pitch throughout.
Korean American - and a Jenny Woo favorite - Paul Kim was up next. Another pitchy flat one but Randy said he still liked his potential. Kim at +3000 odds was said to have sung a "third rate version of that (George Michael) song" according to Simon Cowell. He sang "Careless Whisper".
22 year old Chris Richardson was up next. He was listed with +1100 odds coming in. He got the best response from the judges though Simon did not believe the vocal was that great.
Nick was boring and pitchy. Simon didn't think he was that bad though and predicted he would be back next week. Nick Pedro was a big +3000 dog coming into this competition.
Beat boxer Blake Lewis was listed with early +1000 odds or $1000 payout on a $100 bet if he were to become the next American Idol winner odds . These of course were the early odds. He was considered original for picking an "odd song". He did not beat box and the judges felt it was the best vocal of the night.
Sanjaya came in as the second biggest favorite after Chris Sligh but his performance Tuesday night was not very good.
Chris Sleigh was the early favorite at +450 odds. Great voice and a great sense of humor. He's a real standout. Randy felt it was on point but maybe ahead of the chorus a little bit. Simon Cowell said he felt like he was in some "sort of weird student gig".
Jared Cotter followed. He was listed with +2000 odds early on to win the competition. The judges felt he needs to take more risks but looked good.
22-year old AJ Talbado, who has tried out for American Idol five times, was up next. "Kind of a theme park performance" said Simon. Though the judges felt he performed okay. Simon did feel AJ might be better than he originally thought.
Phil - this season's military favorite - came into this competition with +1200 odds to win the competition. He was the last to perform. He was certainly strong enough to get through this stage of the competition and perhaps the best one after a shaky start.
Tomorrow night, the ladies perform and I sure hope they do a better job than the boys. Check out all the American Idol betting odds here.
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