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.

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It's less than a month until the NHL hockey betting season opens at MySportsbook.com and preparations are underway for another battle in the race to hoist Lord Stanley's mug in 2007.

As cup crazy fans prepare to place their bets, one online sportsbook ,MySportsbook.com, is offering hockey betting lines on the 2007/2007 Stanley Cup , who will bring it home this upcoming season.

Despite a poor showing in last season's playoffs and the loss of Steve Yzerman to retirement, the Detroit Red Wings are early favourites at this online sportsbook with wagering odds of 6-1. The Wings will look to offensive powerhouse Pavel Datsyuk and newly appointed captain Nicklas Lidstrom to lead one of the league's most prominent franchises.

Always a threat are the Ottawa Senators, with newly acquired goaltender Martin Gerber from the Stanley Cup champion ,Carolina Hurricanes. The Sens are second best in the rankings at a 7-1 bet, and odds makers at this sportsbook are optimistic that the Ottawa squad will fare better than last season's Eastern Conference semi-final upset to the Buffalo Sabres.

Also worth noting are the defending Stanley Cup champs Carolina Hurricanes, a 10-1 bet to repeat. Behind the Canes are the New Jersey Devils, Calgary Flames, Buffalo Sabres, Philadelphia Flyers, and Anaheim Mighty Ducks all sit at 12-1. In the basement are the Washington Capitals, Chicago Blackhawks, and St. Louis Blues who all have 100-1 odds to win.

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