Baseball Betting

Panthers hope to solve visiting Sens

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02/15/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Florida Panthers are in position to win four in a row for the first time this season, but to do so they'll need to beat the Ottawa Senators for the first time in nine meetings.

That's the task for the Panthers tonight as they open up a four-game homestand fresh off a successful trip to the Northeast over the weekend.

Florida kicked off its current winning streak with a home victory over Los Angeles on Thursday, then erased a pair of early deficits to beat New Jersey and the New York Islanders on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. The Panthers allowed the first goal in both games, but has still won three straight for the first time since Dec. 3-8.

On Sunday versus the Islanders, Tyson Strachan scored his first career goal to tie things in the first period before Tomas Fleischmann, Kris Versteeg and Jack Skille all tallied in the middle frame. Skille lit the lamp in his return from a seven-game absence due to a shoulder injury, while Versteeg matched his career high with his 22nd goal of the season.

Jose Theodore stopped 26-of-27 shots to post his first win since December 27. It was his first game since Jan. 20 because of a knee injury.

The Panthers own a four-point edge over the Capitals for first place in the Southeast Division despite playing on Sunday without high-scoring defenseman Jason Garrison, who suffered a lower-body injury the previous day versus the Devils.

"It was a good weekend for us. It's satisfying. We went out played hard and were rewarded for it," said Panthers head coach Kevin Dineen.

Dineen's club is looking to win four in a row for the first time since a club- record seven-game run from March 2-16, 2008. The Panthers can also win four straight in regulation for the first time since Feb. 10-19, 2001.

Florida figures to have a good chance at extending its win streak if Versteeg can score. The Panthers are 14-1-1 when he lights the lamp this season, though that one regulation loss came in heartbreaking fashion at Ottawa on Oct. 27.

Versteeg scored to tie the game with 48 seconds left in regulation, but the Senators went back ahead and secured a 4-3 win when Nick Foligno scored with just four ticks left in the third. Florida then suffered a 4-3 overtime loss in Ottawa two months later and is 0-7-1 in the past eight meetings.

The Panthers haven't beaten the Senators since Jan. 9, 2010 in Ottawa and are 5-16-1 against them since the start of the 2006-07 season. The Sens have won their last four trips to Florida and have gotten a pair of goals and three assists from Daniel Alfredsson in the two encounters this year.

Jason Spezza was the offensive star for Ottawa last night as he netted his fourth career hat trick in a 4-0 win over Tampa Bay. That was more then enough offense for Craig Anderson, who made 28 saves for his second shutout of the season and 18th of his career.

Spezza also assisted on Erik Karlsson's goal for the Senators, who won for just the second time in 10 games (2-6-2) but do have points in three straight. They snapped a four-game slide on the road as well.

Spezza has five goals and five assists during a four-game point streak.

"I think we played a pretty consistent game from start to finish," Senators head coach Paul MacLean said. "I think there were some momentum shifts in the game, but I thought Craig Anderson played real well for us and I thought our team handled the momentum shifts and responded real well."

With 66 points, Ottawa is seventh overall in the East and four points behind Boston for first place in the Northeast Division.


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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.