St. Louis leads Tampa over Florida

Hockey Betting Lines

02/04/2012 - Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Martin St. Louis recorded his fifth career hat trick in his 900th NHL game, as the Tampa Bay Lightning dominated the Florida Panthers, 6-3.

Vincent Lecavalier added a goal and three assists for the Lightning, who ended with a 4-1-1 record against Florida this season. Tampa Bay finished the season series with nine points against Florida, which is the most points it has ever accumulated in one year against its inner-state rival.

Steven Stamkos had a goal and an assist for Tampa Bay, which is 6-0-1 over its last seven games. Mathieu Garon made 17 saves.

Sean Bergenheim ended with a goal and an assist for the Panthers, who had a two-game winning streak snapped. Mikael Samuelsson and Tomas Fleischmann also lit the lamp.

Scott Clemmensen stopped 27-of-32 shots. Brian Foster made his NHL debut at the end of the second period, stopping the only shot he faced.

Tampa Bay drew first blood in this Southeast Division battle at the 1:37 mark of the first period. Nate Thompson blocked Mike Weaver's shot from the right point and raced down the ice with the puck before firing a wrister through Clemmensen's pads.

Fleischmann's shot from the right circle beat Garon at the 3:54 mark, making it a 1-1 game.

The Lightning took the lead back early in the middle stanza. Florida turned the puck over in its own zone and Lecavalier's snap shot from the slot beat Clemmensen at the 1:42 mark.

St. Louis made it a 3-1 game at the 4:22 mark. Following a scramble for a loose puck in front of the net, St. Louis slid a shot past Clemmensen.

The Panthers lit the lamp less than three minutes later to make it a one-goal game again. Samuelsson stole the puck in the Tampa Bay zone and Bergenheim was there to gather the disc at the slot. Bergenheim's shot left a rebound at the side of the net for Samuelsson.

But another Florida turnover led to Stamkos finding the back of the net at the 12:36 mark.

St. Louis added another Tampa Bay goal at 15:08, but Bergenheim cut the gap to 5-3 on a breakaway in the final minute of the frame.

St. Louis' empty-net goal with 21 seconds remaining made it 6-3.

Game Notes

The Panthers have used four goalies in a single season for just third time in franchise history (1997-98, 1999-2000)...The Lightning improved to 3-0-1 on a five-game homestand...The Panthers fell to 18-2-4 when scoring at least three goals.

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Football Betting

NFL Football Betting Online

The San Francisco 49ers (5-11 SU, 5-10-1 ATS in 2007; 1-1 SU & ATS in pre-season) found some offensive life last week, and they will try to build some momentum on Thursday night as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (7-9 SU & ATS in 2007; 0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS in pre-season) in an NFL matchup that is set to get underway at 8 PM ET at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.

Thursday, August 21

NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3 (-120), Total 37

NOTABLE STAT: San Francisco was last in points, last in total offense in 2007
KEY NFL BETTING TREND: SF has lost its last seven SU on pre-season road

In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite (laying -120), with the total posted at 37 points.

Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):

* SF has lost 11 of its last 14 games SU
* SF has covered three of its last 11 games
* SF has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* SF has covered one of its last seven road games
* CHI has covered five of its last eight games
* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last 13 home games
* SF has lost its last seven pre-season road games SU
* CHI has covered two of its last seven home pre-season games

Well, I guess we should congratulate the Bears on making their quarterback choice for the season's opening game, as they have designated Kyle Orton the starter against Indianapolis. The Bears obviously have lost patience with Rex Grossman, and what they do with him at this point is anybody's guess. But suffice it to say that there isn't a quarterback competition anymore, at least in training camp.

Meanwhile, the quarterback competition may also be settled in San Francisco, where the Niners bounced back from a lackluster 18-6 loss to the Raiders, in which they turned the ball over four times, to execute a 34-6 rout of the Packers last Saturday. However, coach Mike Nolan has stopped short of saying that, insisting that the job is still open. But J.T. O'Sullivan, the longshot of the trio of Niner signal-callers who opened camp, will start his third straight pre-season game here. Against Green Bay, O'Sullivan was only 8-for-17, and was intercepted, but he also threw for 9.1 yards an attempt, which included a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Morgan. The others struggled.

Some offensive cohesion is badly needed, in light of the Niners' dismal 2007 campaign, in which they were dead last in the NFL in scoring, with just 13.7 points a game. And O'Sullivan is the guy who is most familiar with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's exacting system, because he learned it last year in Detroit. O'Sullivan will go at least the entire first half and may even last longer. He'll be relieved by Alex Smith, with Shawn Hill doing the mop-up work. Three receivers who were out last week - Bryant Johnson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle - will miss this game too.

That may hurt a little here, especially since the Bears will be using a lot of their defensive starters. And it's the defense that has been keeping the Bears in games thus far. In fact, the defense and special teams were responsible for the first 19 points Chicago scored against Seattle last time out, as the offense really struggled with Grossman at the controls. But maybe the first-team offense has a chance to settle a little bit as it works more with Orton at the helm.

Certainly we have concerns about the Bears' offensive line, but we like the scenario for them here, especially if O'Sullivan doesn't make some bis plays. The Niners may have nowhere else to turn right now, and they have lost seven straight road games in the pre-season. Let's take Chicago, the three-point favorite in the NFL football betting odds.

CHICAGO -3 (-120) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)

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