Panthers hope to string together win streak vs. Jets

Hockey Betting Lines

02/03/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Florida Panthers will try to win consecutive games for the first time since mid-December when they host the Winnipeg Jets for tonight's clash at BankAtlantic Center.

The Panthers lost their last game before the All-Star break, but emerged from the hiatus with Wednesday's important 4-2 win over Washington. That victory moved Florida a point ahead of the Capitals for the top spot in the Southeast Division and the Panthers can extend that lead over idle Washington tonight.

A victory this evening would give the Panthers consecutive wins for the first time since they defeated Calgary and Carolina on Dec. 16 and 18, respectively. Since those back-to-back triumphs, Florida has gone 5-6-5 over its last 16 trips to the ice.

The Panthers received two goals from Mikael Samuelsson in Wednesday's regulation win over Washington. Shawn Matthias also provided a late insurance goal for Florida, which still has four games against the Capitals left on its docket.

Stephen Weiss added a goal and Tomas Fleischmann totaled two assists for the Panthers, while Scott Clemmensen made 26 saves in the victory.

Florida beat Washington without the help of leading scorer Kris Versteeg, who sat out the game with flu-like symptoms. Versteeg, who is pacing the Panthers with 19 goals and 43 points, was at practice on Thursday and is expected to play tonight.

Panthers goaltender Jose Theodore (knee) and forward Jack Skille (shoulder) are questionable.

Florida is capping a three-game homestand tonight and is 12-5-7 as the host this year. Following this evening's tilt, the Panthers will play four of their next five games on the road.

The Jets have also won two in a row and will try for their first three-game winning streak since Dec. 27-31 when they take the ice tonight. Winnipeg played Thursday evening in Tampa and Kyle Wellwood scored at 3:14 of overtime to give the Jets a 2-1 victory over the Lightning.

Blake Wheeler escaped a Bolts checker along the left-wing boards, moved to the net and slipped a pass across to Wellwood, who lifted the puck into the top half of the net to end the contest.

"I was just trying to circle around and see what was going on with the play," said Wellwood. "Blake made a great pass and my first instinct was to shoot it."

Wheeler added a score for the Jets, while Ondrej Pavelec stopped 30-of-31 shots for the victory.

The Jets welcomed back a pair of key players to the lineup on Thursday in defenseman Dustin Byfuglien and forward Alex Burmistrov. Byfuglien saw his first action since December 23 after dealing with a lower-body issue, while Burmistrov had sat out two games with an upper-body injury.

Byfuglien posted an assist and skated over 25 minutes on Thursday. Despite missing 16 games with his injury, he is still leading all Winnipeg defenseman this season with 25 points. Burmistrov was held off the scoresheet on Thursday and the 20-year-old has nine goals and nine assists this season.

Jets forward Evander Kane, who leads the team with 18 goals, is still out indefinitely with a concussion.

Winnipeg is playing the fifth test of a six-game road trip tonight and will close the swing Sunday in Montreal. The Jets are just 9-14-4 on the road this year compared to a 15-8-2 mark at home.

The Panthers have taken two straight road games from the Jets after losing this year's series opener in Florida back on Oct. 31. The Atlanta/Winnipeg franchise has won four straight in Sunrise.

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Albert Pujols to be This Year's Home Run Champ Says Online Sportsbook

Barry Bonds is a 50-1 long shot to be this year's home run champ odds.  The favorite to be this year's home run champ is none other than Albert Pujols, however.

Now that Barry Bonds is signed and in Giants camp, it is on to his pursuit of all of sports most prestigious records: the all-time home run mark. Bonds sits just 21 homers shy of tying Hank Aaron for the career mark at 755. Word out of Giants’ camp is that Bonds is the healthiest he has been in a few years. Bonds is just two seasons removed from his injury riddled 2005 campaign where he played in only 14 games and hit only 5 home runs. He did come back last year and had a solid season hitting .270 with 26 bombs. All eyes will be on Bonds this spring and summer not only because of his home run chase but his highly publicized steroid abuse allegations. If and when Bonds breaks the record, he surely will not get the positive attention one should for breaking a record that was once thought of as “unbreakable”. Despite Bonds decent season last year, he is just 50-1 at MySportsbook.com to lead the MLB in long balls this season.

Not surprisingly, the favorites to go deep the most times this season are Albert Pujols 5-1, Ryan Howard 6-1, David Ortiz 8-1 and Alex Rodriguez 12-1. With 49 homers, Pujols finished second in the National League behind Howard (58). Pujols is considered the favorite due to the consistent power numbers that he has posted since breaking into the league in 2001. Also one must consider the fact that he played in 16 fewer games then Howard did due to an injury. Howard smashed 58 homers in his first complete season of big league play en route to the National League MVP odds award. He silenced his critics by successfully hitting left-handed pitching. Howard also displayed the ability to use his power to the opposite field. Two attributes which should keep Howard amongst the league leaders in long balls for years to come. From the American League representatives, David Ortiz leads the field. Ortiz was second in the majors last year with 54 home runs. Except for 1999 when he only played in 10 games, Ortiz has improved on his home run numbers each year he has been in the majors (1997).

Be sure to log onto online sports betting site MySportsbook.com to check out the odds for who will lead the MLB in home runs this season. Below is just a sample of the players listed. With the highest credit card rates in the industry, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on baseball this summer.

World Series odds

Adam Dunn 15-1

Albert Pujols 5-1

Alex Rodriguez 12-1

Alfonso Soriano 15-1

Andruw Jones 25-1

Barry Bonds 50-1

Carlos Delgado 40-1

David Ortiz 8-1

Jermaine Dye 40-1

Ken Griffey Jr. 100-1

Lance Berkman 40-1

Manny Ramirez 20-1

Richie Sexson 40-1

Ryan Howard 6-1

Travis Hafner 20-1

Vladimir Guerrero 40-1

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.