Panthers shoot for rare victory over Sharks

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03/13/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Florida needs all the victories it can muster from now until the end of the season to even have a chance at making the playoffs. The Panthers could have a tough time getting a win today, when they visit the mighty San Jose Sharks at HP Pavilion.

The Sharks entered Saturday as the top-seeded team in the Western Conference with 95 points and only Washington is ahead of them in the overall NHL standings.

Meanwhile, Florida is tied for 12th in the East and is eight points out of a playoff berth. The Panthers have the longest active postseason drought in the NHL, having last appeared in the playoffs in the spring of 2000.

The Panthers haven't had much success against San Jose in recent years although Florida did notch a 4-3 home victory over the Sharks last season. Still, San Jose is 7-1 with a tie in the last nine encounters overall and Florida has lost four straight at the Shark Tank.

San Jose has won its last three games and won its last outing despite giving up five goals -- the most the Sharks had yielded since a 6-2 loss to Los Angeles on January 4.

On Thursday, Joe Pavelski registered two goals and two assists, as the Sharks exploded for six goals in the third period to rally past the visiting Nashville Predators, 8-5.

"It's a catch-22 thing to have any type of success," said Sharks head coach Todd McLellan. "This isn't going to happen again. If it does, it will be a miracle. For us to be successful, we have to have everybody on board for the first 40 minutes, not just the last 15."

Dany Heatley added two goals and a helper, while Manny Malhotra finished with a goal and two assists for the Sharks.

San Jose's Patrick Marleau reached the 40-goal plateau for the first time in his career, and Joe Thornton also tallied. Evgeni Nabokov made 40 saves to pick up the win, his 37th of the season.

Today's test marks the final contest of a five-game homestand for the Sharks, who have an excellent 22-6-7 mark as the host this year. Next up for San Jose is a six-game road trip, which begins Sunday in Anaheim.

The Panthers, meanwhile, had a three-game winning streak halted in their last game, getting blanked 3-0 Thursday night at Colorado. Paul Stastny scored twice in the second period to support a 27-save performance by former Florida goaltender Craig Anderson at the Pepsi Center.

Tomas Vokoun stopped 28 shots for the Panthers, who were shut out for the third time in 11 games.

"We've got to get more traffic, especially when the goalies are good like that," said Florida forward David Booth.

The Panthers have lost seven of their last eight away games and are closing out a three-game road trip tonight. Florida is 13-18-3 as the visitor this season.

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Is there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?

I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.

Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.

There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.

Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.

For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.

A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.

The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.

Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.

So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.

Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.

“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.

Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.

“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.

It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.

Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.

The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.

“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.

“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”

Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.

The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.

“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”

Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?

“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”

Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.