Coyotes shoot for historic win in Florida

Hockey Betting Lines

03/18/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Phoenix Coyotes set their sights on a history-making win when the surprising playoff contenders skate into the BankAtlantic Center this evening to take on the Florida Panthers.

One of the NHL's great success stories of the 2009-10 campaign, the Coyotes appear well on their way to their first postseason appearance since 2001-02 and enter tonight's clash riding a six-game winning streak. The surging club's most recent triumph, a 2-1 verdict over Tampa Bay on Tuesday, matched a franchise record for victories in a single season that was initially set by the 1984-85 Winnipeg Jets.

Phoenix, which has amassed an excellent 14-4-0 record since January 26, currently occupies the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference standings and has moved within five points of San Jose for the top spot.

"I think everybody is (contributing), and that's why we're so successful this year," said forward Vernon Fiddler, who scored one of the Coyotes' two goals in Tuesday's win. "Everybody's bringing something different -- it doesn't matter if you're a checker or an offensive guy. Our goaltending is great, defense is playing well and everybody's pulling on the same rope."

The Coyotes have indeed gotten strong goaltending during their hot stretch. No. 1 netminder Ilya Bryzgalov has posted a 0.98 goals against average and .967 save percentage in winning his last three starts, and stopped 27-of-28 shots on Tuesday to notch his 37th victory of the season.

Matthew Lombardi also scored for Phoenix against the Lightning and Lee Stempniak set up Fiddler's tally to extend his personal point streak to seven games. The ex-Toronto forward has recorded six goals and two assists in six outings since being acquired from the Maple Leafs at the March 3 trade deadline.

If they're able to knock off the Panthers, the Coyotes will have put together their first seven-game winning streak since December 28, 2006-January 7, 2007.

Phoenix will wrap a string of four straight road games against Southeast Division foes tonight and has outscored the opposition by a 9-3 margin in consecutive decisions over Carolina, Atlanta and Tampa Bay on this swing.

Florida got a four-game homestand off to an undesired start on Tuesday, when the high-scoring Washington Capitals cruised to a 7-3 win over the Panthers despite playing without suspended NHL points leader Alex Ovechkin.

The NHL's best offense didn't miss a beat despite not having Ovechkin, who served the first of a two-game penalty for a dangerous hit on Chicago defenseman Brian Campbell on Sunday. Washington scored five times on 21 shots against Tomas Vokoun before the Panthers goaltender was removed with 5:54 remaining in the second period.

"This is a disappointing effort. We left our goalies out to dry," Panthers head coach Peter DeBoer said. "We were too soft. You can't expect to get a playoff spot in this league when you don't play harder than the team you're playing against."

Florida is on the outside of the Eastern Conference playoff picture at the moment, trailing eighth-place Boston by eight points with 14 games left in the regular season and four other teams standing in between the Panthers and Bruins.

On a more positive note, the Panthers seem to be close to getting one of their top scorers back in the lineup for the stretch run. Forward Nathan Horton, who hasn't played since breaking his left tibia in a January 21 loss to the New York Islanders, resumed practicing this week and is a possibility to return tonight. The talented 24-year-old had 46 points (17 goals, 29 assists) in 51 games before going down.

These teams will be facing one another for the first time since a 4-1 Coyotes' win in Arizona last season. In Phoenix's last visit to the BankAtlantic Center, the Panthers came away with a 5-2 decision on February 10, 2007.

Waskjeeves Hockey Betting News


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Sportsbook betting odds favor Europe in Ryder Cup

September 19, – Despite holding a decided edge in the all-time series, with 24 wins, 2 ties and 10 losses, Team USA is the underdog again heading into the Ryder Cup in Kidare, Ireland this weekend, according to MySportsbook.com.  The Europeans have captured four of the past five editions, including their largest victory ever, an 18 ½ to 9 ½ thumping in Michigan in 2004. Current Ryder Cup betting odds favor the Europeans to continue their winning ways; they are a 4-5 bet to take the title, compared to 6-5 for the Americans. 

Despite being knocked out in the first round of World Match play by Shaun Micheel, Tiger Woods is predicted to lead the US charge and be their highest point scorer for the week, with odds listed at 9-4 that he outpoints all other American players, including Jim Furyk, Phil Mickelson and Chris DiMarco to  name a  few.  Team USA has four relatively unknown players on the roster but all four are 2007 tournament winners and have posted some of season’s best performances, each earning over $1.5 million on the PGA TOUR.  They include Zach Johnson, Vaughan Taylor, JJ Henry and Brett Wetterich.

The experienced European squad includes the likes of Luke Donald, Sergio Garcia, Padraig Harrington, Jose Maria Olazabal and Darren Clarke, who’s emotions will be tested after the passing of his wife to a battle with cancer.  Donald and Garcia are in particularly good form and each is a 5-1 bet to lead the European squad in the points race. Donald has proven he can go head to head with Woods at a major event after a run for the $1.2 million purse at the PGA Championship. Garcia’s Ryder Cup credentials prove he’s ready for battle too.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your golf sportsbook needs.

Ryder Cup Odds

Europe
Tie
USA
4-5
10-1
6-5


Ryder Cup Top US point scorer
Tiger Woods
Jim Furyk
Phil Mickelson
Chris DiMarco
David Toms
Stewart Cink
Chad Campbell
Scott Verplank
Zach Johnson
Vaughan Taylor
JJ Henry
Brett Wetterich
9-4
4-1
5-1
7-1
8-1
12-1
15-1
15-1
25-1
30-1
30-1
50-1


Ryder Cup Top European scorer
Sergio Garcia
Luke Donald
Padraig Harrington
Colin Montgomerie
Darren Clarke
David Howell
Lee Westwood
Paul Casey
Henrik Stenson
Jose Maria Olazabal
Paul McGinley
Robert Karlsson
5-1
5-1
6-1
13-2
8-1
9-1
9-1
11-1
12-1
12-1
20-1
25-1

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com