Hurricanes clash with Panthers in Southeast Division battle

Hockey Betting Lines

12/18/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Carolina Hurricanes will try to win consecutive games for the first time in nearly a month when they welcome the Florida Panthers for a Southeast Division matchup at RBC Center.

The Hurricanes ended a two-game skid with Tuesday's home victory over Montreal, but haven't notched back-to-back wins since taking three in a row from November 16-21.

Carolina earned a 3-2 decision over the Canadiens as Eric Staal scored twice and Joe Corvo netted the game-winner just over seven minutes into the second period.

Cam Ward recorded 22 saves for Carolina, which had lost five of six coming into Tuesday's contest.

All three of Carolina's goals came on the power play, as the 'Canes converted 3-of-11 opportunities with the man advantage.

Staal has recorded a point in four straight games, notching five goals and two assists over that span. He has 13 goals and nine assists in 31 games this year after recording 82 points a year ago.

Meanwhile, Ray Whitney had his point streak halted at five games. He had three goals and three assists during the run.

Carolina is 8-8-1 as the host this year and is capping a brief two-game homestand tonight.

Florida is coming off a loss as it had a three-game winning streak snapped Sunday in Vancouver. Pavol Demitra scored twice and the Canucks erased a two- goal deficit with five consecutive scores to down the Panthers by a 5-3 count at General Motors Place.

Jay Bouwmeester, Nick Boynton and Michael Frolik got the goals for Florida. Craig Anderson was victimized for five goals on 30 shots in the loss.

Florida also suffered its first defeat on a five-game road trip, which ends tonight. The Panthers are 8-9-1 as the visiting team this season.

The Panther and Hurricanes have split a pair of meetings this year and Carolina has taken six of the last nine encounters overall. Florida has been dreadful in Raleigh, going 1-15 with a tie in its last 17 trips to RBC Center.

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Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.