Allen's OT goal leads Florida over San Jose

Hockey Betting Lines

03/13/2010 - San Jose, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bryan Allen scored at the 2:46 mark of overtime to give the Florida Panthers a 3-2 win over the San Jose Sharks at HP Pavilion.

In the extra season, a left circle faceoff was won by Shawn Matthias and he drew it back to Allen, who threw a simple wrister on net that snuck through a screen set up by Matthias in front.

Allen and Matthias each finished the game with a goal and an assist while Keith Ballard scored the other goal for the Panthers, who have won four of their last five. Tomas Vokoun made 37 saves in the win.

The win gives Florida 66 points on the season as the team sits six points back of Boston for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Patrick Marleau and Ryane Clowe each had a goal and an assist for the Sharks, who had their three-game winning streak snapped. Thomas Greiss stopped 25 shots in the loss.

San Jose has 96 points and sits three ahead of Chicago for the top spot in the Western Conference and is just three points behind Washington for first overall in the NHL.

The Sharks got on the board 5:32 into the first as Clowe skated with the puck from the right boards to the slot and snapped a wrister into the right corner.

Skating on the power play later in the first, San Jose took a 2-0 lead as Marleau's one-timer from a sharp angle at the right side found the back of the net for his 41st goal of the season with 2:15 left in the frame.

Just 1:02 into the second period, Florida found the scoreboard as Radek Dvorak took the puck from the deep left boards around to the outside left circle and fired a pass over to Ballard, who one-timed the puck into the open net.

Florida tied the game 5:01 into the final frame as Allen threw a shot on net from the left point that was stopped, but Matthias was there to backhand in the rebound from in front for his sixth goal of the year.

Game Notes

San Jose hits the road for six games starting in Anaheim on Sunday...Florida hosts Washington on Tuesday...Florida snapped a four-game losing streak in San Jose...San Jose went 1-for-2 on the power play while Florida failed to score on any of its three chances.

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Betting the NFL preseason

Rule No. 1 in the gamblers' handbook states, "Avoid sports betting on meaningless games."

When you're drowning in a sea of baseball monotony, however, things change. Even a hint of pro football betting can persuade the most disciplined bettor to break a few rules. 

The NFL preseason is around the corner, with a tempting Hall of Fame match kicking off on Sunday. But bettors must stay vigilant. Wagering on NFL exhibition games is an entirely different beast than the regular season. Most fans don't recognize the players on the field because starters get as much action in August as Warcraft fans get on Prom night.

The only certainty about the NFL this time of year is uncertainty – and yet there are some who say betting in August can be a gold mine.

“I actually feel the NFL preseason presents solid profit opportunities for sharp bettors and handicappers,” Sports Expert Steve Merril explains. “My experience has been that the sportsbooks fear the preseason, which is evident by lower limits and massive moves.”

The line moves are attributed to the limited knowledge available regarding playing-time distribution. One team’s top unit out on the field for one more series has an impact on the pointspread. Setting lines in the preseason often is a shot in the dark.

“We base the betting lines mostly on public perception,” Pete Korner, founder of the Sports Club in Las Vegas, says. “It’s very tough to predict, almost a guessing game.”

The preseason is all about figuring out who’s in and for how long.

“It becomes a race between bettors and oddsmakers to find out how long the quarterbacks are going to stay in,” Korner admits. “If a sharp gets the information first, he could exploit an early line. I’m a full believer in moving the line in the preseason if the books find out something late in the week.”

Determining what each team’s motive is can help bettors handicap. To do this you must pay close attention to the philosophies head coaches employ in exhibition play.

“You need to know what a coach is trying to accomplish,” says Covers Expert Bryan Leonard. “Sometimes a new coach will want to instill a winning attitude. Others just want to make sure their starters don’t get hurt."

So how do you distinguish who’s playing scared and who’s playing for keeps?

“Head coaches on the hot seat or new coaches trying to implement a winning attitude usually try harder to win in the preseason,” Merril says.

Cleveland Browns head coach Romeo Crennel fits this criteria. He’s entering his third season as the sideline boss and has yet to lead the Browns to more than six wins.

Cleveland is an enticing bet as well because of the unresolved quarterback situation. General manager Phil Savage sacrificed the Browns’ first-round pick in next year’s draft for Brady Quinn, but the former Notre Dame quarterback hasn’t signed or reported to training camp yet.

Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson split time at QB last season and it looks like either player (or even Quinn) could be the opening-day starter.

“If a team has quarterback depth and the pecking order hasn’t been decided, it’s a big advantage,” Leonard says.

Even in the third week of the preseason when starters generally play the most, the final outcome of the game is in the hands of fringe players. A team's talent, all the way down to the last man on the roster, is something to consider.

The New England Patriots have long been considered one of the deeper teams in the NFL and coach Bill Belichick has said in the past he’s unafraid of stars getting hurt in games with nothing on the line. He shocked his colleagues in 2003 by playing some of his starters on special teams in the preseason.

“We want to have the team ready to play a tough, physical game and preparation has to go into that and I imagine a certain amount of injuries go with it,” Belichick told the Providence Journal in August 2003.

Bettors can only hope to find more teams that share the Pats' business-like approach to the preseason (New England is 17-9-3 against the spread since 2000) and take advantage of teams who detest the exhibition schedule.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on football needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.