Sabres shoot for road win in Florida

Hockey Betting Lines

03/20/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Sabres are in a fight for the Northeast Division title, which would give them home-ice advantage in the playoff's opening round. However, they'll likely need to win on the road if they want to earn the division crown.

Buffalo continues a five-game road trip this evening at BankAtlantic Center against a Florida Panthers team that is fading from the playoff picture.

The Sabres are 1-1-1 on their road trip so far and were just 1-7-3 over their previous 11 games as the guest prior to a big 6-2 victory at Tampa Bay on Thursday. Following this road trip, Buffalo plays three straight at home before finishing the season with six of its final eight on the road.

Thursday's win did push the Sabres five points up on the second-place Senators with two games in hand and Ottawa is also in action on Saturday.

Jason Pominville netted his second career hat trick in the win over the Lightning, netting two of those goals in helping the Sabres jump out to a 4-0 lead by the end of the second period. Pominville's first regular-season hat trick came back on Jan. 14, 2006 and he also had one in the '06 playoffs.

Derek Roy finished with a short-handed goal and two assists for the Sabres, who had lost their last three overall and improved to 16-13-4 as the guest this season. Ryan Miller made 23 saves.

Buffalo visits a Florida squad that is 1-2-1 over its last four contests following a three-game win streak and is now seven points behind eighth-place Boston in the Eastern Conference with 13 games to play.

Stephen Weiss, Cory Stillman and David Booth all scored for the Panthers on Thursday versus the Coyotes, but Phoenix scored three times in the third frame to force overtime before eventually handing Florida a 4-3 shootout setback.

"We did a lot of good things tonight," Panthers head coach Pete DeBoer said. "Unfortunately they got a few bounces in the third. That's why that team is where their at."

Tomas Vokoun made 43 saves, but did allow the game-tying goal with 59.7 seconds left in regulation. Nathan Horton had two assists in his return to the lineup, as he had missed 17 games since breaking his left tibia on Jan. 21.

Florida fell to 0-1-1 on a four-game homestand and has now dropped six of its last eight at home.

The Panthers notched a 6-2 win at Buffalo on Nov. 18 in the most recent meeting between the clubs to snap a four-game series losing steak. The Sabres have still won six of their last eight over the Panthers in addition to two straight and five of their last six at Florida.

Musportsbook Hockey Betting News


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Elite 8 NCAA Tournament Betting at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com

In what should be an outstanding Saturday of March Madness betting action, the top four teams in the South and West Regions square off in what should be extremely close match-ups. Three of the four teams are coming off extremely close games on Thursday evening, only UCLA won semi comfortably over Pitt 64-55.

Ohio State is coming off their second game in a row where in all reality they should have lost. Of course that doesn’t matter now since the name of the game is “survive and advance” but as the tournament continues, they can’t afford to keep getting down to their opponents early. Kansas also avoided a scare by holding off a scrappy Southern Illinois squad. In the third thrilling game of the evening Memphis pulled off the minor upset (+3.5) despite being the higher seed to Texas A&M.

Although the spreads are fairly small for Saturday’s games, MySportsbook.com continue to bet against the underdogs. Despite OSU’s two scares, 86% of the “betting public” feels the Buckeyes (-1.5) have what it takes to make the Final Four. In fact, so much of the early money is on OSU that the line has already moved from -1 to -1.5. In the second game of the doubleheader, Kansas and their high-powered offense are 2 point favorites as they take on UCLA and their effective defense. About 63% of the early money thus far is once again backing the favorites. If those percentages stay that high, don’t be surprised if this line moves as well. If you like Kansas (-2) you might want to jump on it early.

Memphis vs. Ohio State

Both squads were involved in thrillers on Thursday evening and should come out fired up. OSU can ill afford to get behind early like they did versus their previous two opponents (Xavier, Tennessee). Greg Oden needs to stay out of foul trouble; the Buckeyes are a completely different team when he is on the court. Memphis definitely has the athleticism and length to match-up with OSU. Of Memphis’ five leading minute earners, the shortest of the bunch is 6’5”. Each team has a very effective defense; Memphis surrenders 62.3 PPG whereas the Buckeyes give up only 61 PPG. With those type of numbers, it isn’t surprising that Memphis covered the UNDER almost 69% of the time this season. As a favorite, OSU has covered the UNDER almost 66% of the time over the last three seasons. The major concern for Memphis which is magnifies this time of the year is their brutal foul shooting (62%). This season, OSU is 17-11 ATS versus teams with a winning record and 7-2 ATS in all tournament games. Memphis has been an extremely reliable cover in tournament play in recent years with a 23-8 ATS record over the last three seasons.

UCLA vs. Kansas

In the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, UCLA will play in a role which they are very unfamiliar with that of the underdog. Only twice this season have they been getting points from the handicappers and both times they covered. Over the last three seasons UCLA is a reliable 23-7 ATS in this unfamiliar role. UCLA has not fared well against Big 12 opponents recently going 1-7 ATS since 1997. Giving up only 59.6 PPG, UCLA will definitely look to do what they do best: keep this game as low scoring as possible. Their defense has been especially tough during the tournament. UCLA opponents have been able to muster up only 48.7 PPG while shooting a combined 34.5% from the field. UCLA definitely has a challenge at hand with a Kansas team that is capable of putting points on the board in bunches. As a team, they average 79 PPG and shoot an impressive 49.6% from the field and 39.4% from beyond the arc. During the tournament Kansas has been “lights out” from the field having shot 56.2%.

With Friday -105 juice on Basketball betting, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on all of the “March Madness” action.  Don’t forget to monitor who the public is backing at MySportsbook.com’s “Betting Trends”.  By doing so, you have the best chance of predicting a possible line change, thus getting the best value for your wager.

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