Lightning play host to Penguins

Hockey Betting Lines

03/14/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Lightning are coming off a big win over the Eastern Conference's top team. They wouldn't mind posting another one versus arguably the East's second-best team.

Tampa Bay will try to record just its third win in its last 10 games this evening when they host a Pittsburgh Penguins team at St. Pete Times Forum that is trying to avoid a third straight loss.

The Lightning visited the Capitals on Friday and managed to post a 3-2 win over the NHL's leader in points. Though Steven Stamkos had his franchise- record 18-game point streak end, Vincent Lecavalier scored for the fourth time in his last five games and defenseman Matt Walker lit the lamp for a second time in three contests after posting just two goals in his first 291 NHL games.

Brandon Bochenski also scored and Antero Niittymaki made 28 saves for Tampa Bay, which begins a four-game homestand tonight and is four points back of Boston for the eighth spot in the East.

"There's a lesson here and it's that we have to play with passion," said Tampa Bay head coach Rick Tocchet. "The bench was alive and we got a balanced effort from the whole team."

The Lightning have won seven of their last 10 at home but could be without two players tonight in Ryan Malone (upper body) and Mattias Ohlund (leg). Tampa Bay would like to have the two available as they take on the Atlantic Division-leading Penguins.

Pittsburgh, though, holds just a two-point edge over second-place New Jersey after it lost a 3-1 test to the Devils on Friday. Sidney Crosby scored the Pens' only goal against Devils netminder Martin Brodeur, his NHL-leading 45th of the season that ran his point streak to eight straight games (6 goals, 6 assists). Marc-Andre Fleury made 29 saves.

The loss was the Penguins second straight after a four-game winning streak, as well as their fifth in a row this season to the Devils. Pittsburgh plays the third test of a five-game road trip and has dropped four of its last five as the guest.

"He's played really well against us this year, but I don't think we have allowed that to frustrate us," Crosby told NHL.com of Brodeur. "I think we have done some really good things and kept coming at him, but he's kept responding. We're hoping eventually we're going to get some more behind him."

The Pens and Lightning have split two meetings so far this year, with each team winning once on home ice. Pittsburgh has won six of the last eight in the series but has lost seven of its last 11 in Tampa.

Fleury is 6-6-3 with a 2.57 goals-against average in his career versus the Lightning, while Niittymaki is 4-6-3 with a 4.18 GAA against the Pens.

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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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