Rangers welcome Panthers for home-and-home finale

Hockey Betting Lines

11/30/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Rangers will aim for a fourth consecutive victory when they host the Florida Panthers this afternoon at Madison Square Garden in the finale of a home-and-home series.

The Rangers, who lead the Atlantic Division and are tied with Boston for the top spot in the Eastern Conference with 36 points, will try today for their longest winning streak since also posting four straight victories from October 24-30. This afternoon's test is also the final game of the month for the Blueshirts, who have recorded a 7-5-1 record in November after going 10-2-1 in October.

Henrik Lundqvist recorded 38 saves and Nikolai Zherdev had the game-winner in the shootout, as New York notched a 4-3 win over the Panthers in the first portion of the home-and-home Friday night in Florida.

Zherdev, Aaron Voros and Dan Fritsche each scored in regulation for the Rangers, who have also won six of their last eight contests. It was the second straight game in which Zherdev found shootout success, as he scored the game- clincher in New York's 3-2 win over Tampa Bay on Wednesday.

Craig Anderson was solid while stopping 43-of-46 shots for the Panthers, who have lost four of five. Jay Bouwmeester, David Booth and Radek Dvorak each lit the lamp in the loss.

After not capitalizing on a power play in overtime, the Rangers followed up Rostislav Olesz's back-handed goal past Lundqvist to begin the shootout with two straight between the pads of Anderson.

Markus Naslund and Zherdev each went five-hole in his attempt, and Lundqvist denied Stephen Weiss and Michael Frolik to seal the win.

The Panthers began the 2008-09 season with a modest 4-3-0 record, but have won just four times in 15 games (4-8-3) since then. Florida has just 19 points on the year and is tied for last in the Southeast Division along with Tampa Bay and Atlanta.

The Rangers are 10-4-1 as the host this year and have won three of their last four in the Big Apple. Florida, meanwhile, is just 3-8-1 on the road and has been defeated in two straight and seven of nine away from Bank Atlantic Center.

New York has won two of three, three of five and five of the last eight meetings with the Panthers. Florida, meanwhile, has lost three straight, seven of eight and nine of its last 11 games at MSG.

Lasveags Hockey Betting News

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Numerous College Basketball teams take final big step to March Madness betting

So, what turned on the lock spigot? Well, after what felt like weeks of teams treading water and slipping back into the bubble muck, a bunch of them finally decided to say "to heck with parity" and won games that should put them into the Big Dance.

Disagree with some of these? Then here's the challenge. Take all of the "should be ins" and make a legit case that each should be ahead of the team that's a lock. Then find 10 more teams that also should be placed in the bracket ahead of that lock team. Not so easy, is it?

If you want more evidence that these locks should be good to go, check out what our research department dug up. Since the NCAA Tournament went to 64 teams in 1985, only six teams from a "big six" conference have had a record of 10-6 or better in conference play and not been selected: Colorado (2004) and Nebraska (1999) from the Big 12, Boston College and Seton Hall (both 2003) from the Big East, Indiana (2005) from the Big Ten and UCLA, which somehow went 12-6 in the Pac-10 in 1988 and still missed out. (Note: Five teams went 11-7 and didn't get in, the latest being last season's Stanford team, which had a brutal nonconference run.)

Yes, 10 conference wins doesn't always mean what it used to because of unbalanced schedules, but this season, it should be plenty good in all but the extreme cases (see: Iowa).

In a way, this is a welcome development, because this is a bubble watch, not a lock watch. We can finally be done with teams like Maryland and Virginia Tech and start really bearing down on at-large battles such as Syracuse-West Virginia and Appalachian State-Georgia Tech.

Interestingly, all the shifting of teams into lock status appears to be more administrative than impactful. The number of remaining available at-larges didn't change one iota. The only difference is that teams on the bubble now have a clearer idea of which team(s) they are competing with for those precious bids.

The Bubble Breakdown
CONFERENCE LOCKS SHOULD BE INS AT-LARGES TAKEN
(assuming no auto bid outlier)
ACC Betting Odds 6 0 5
Big East Betting Odds 5 0 4
Big Ten Betting Odds 2 2 3
Big 12 Betting Odds 3 0 2
Pac-10 Betting Odds 5 1 5
SEC Betting Odds 4 0 3
MVC Betting Odds 1 1 1
MWC Betting Odds 2 1 2
TOTAL 28 5 25

As always, I've tried to be as inclusive as possible while only including teams that would have a reasonable chance of at least being discussed if this were Selection Sunday. If your team's not on here, there's probably a good reason (or three) -- start with the RPI and SOS numbers and work your way down.

(Please remember, per selection committee criteria, that records displayed are Division I only. Next update: Feb. 28)

If you have a legitimate grievance, or just like talking bubble, send an e-mail. Polite ones with fact-based arguments have a much better chance of receiving a response. I apologize in advance if I can't get back to all of you.

Atlantic Coast Conference

Work left to do: Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech

The ACC moves to six locks as BC, Va Tech and Virginia all got their 10th ACC wins, which should be more than enough this season, and Maryland rallied past North Carolina to get the final piece the Terps needed. After that? It could end there unless FSU, Ga Tech or Clemson picks things up in a hurry.

 

Work left to do:

Clemson [19-9 (5-9), RPI: 41, SOS: 42] The Tigers are closer to locking up the collapse of the year award (in a good battle with OK State) than they are to grabbing an at-large. Clemson's been very competitive, but there's no really positive way you can spin nine losses in 11 games. They now cannot get to .500 in ACC play and still must head to Virginia Tech in the season finale (after hosting Miami). Unless the Tigers win both and/or do some serious work in the ACC tourney, they very well could be left out. There are no great nonconference wins, but ODU, App State, Miss. State, South Carolina and Georgia are all respectable W's.

Florida State [18-11 (6-9), RPI: 48, SOS: 14] The Noles got thrashed at Maryland to run their losing streak to five, but then pounded NC State at home to set the table for what likely is an elimination game at Miami. You can at least make a case for the Seminoles at 7-9 in ACC play (and some work in the ACC tourney), but 6-10 is not going to cut it. Wins at Duke and over Florida will resonate, but the computer numbers remain questionable. Beyond Florida, FSU thrashed bubble buddy Providence, but there's not a ton beyond those two games that will help. They didn't show well in big-time opportunities against Pitt and Wisconsin (before the Florida win).

Georgia Tech [18-10 (6-8), RPI: 51, SOS: 46] The Jackets beat Wake on Wednesday but couldn't get it done at UVa on Saturday, which could be a crucial loss with UNC and BC (both at home) remaining and 8-8 almost a certain need for at-large consideration. A nonconference win over Memphis helps, but the RPI and SOS are not at-large quality right now; if you combine those with a sub-.500 ACC mark, that could spell NIT for GT.

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