Panthers win, but are eliminated from playoff picture

Hockey Betting Lines

04/09/2009 - Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - David Booth scored the game-winner with under five minutes left, but the Florida Panthers couldn't fight off elimination despite a 3-2 victory over the Atlanta Thrashers.

Florida began the night two points behind the Rangers and three points behind Montreal for the eighth and seventh playoff spots, respectively. By virtue of the Rangers win, coupled with New York's tiebreaker over the Panthers, and Montreal's overtime loss to Boston, the Panthers were officially eliminated from playoff contention.

Nathan Horton and Cory Stillman also scored for the Panthers, who had lost two of their previous three coming into Thursday's game to damage their playoff hopes. Tomas Vokoun made 23 saves to earn the victory.

"It's always tough to play when you have so much on the line, and you're playing against a team that can play loose," Vokoun said. "I think we showed a lot of character in the third period when we got down. On our power play, we battled back and won the game."

Zach Bogosian scored both goals for the Thrashers, who have lost three straight and finish up their season at home against Tampa Bay on Saturday. Johan Hedberg stopped 28-of-31 shots in the defeat.

"We were in the box too much. You can't kill off that many penalties and expect to win the game," Bogosian said. "We have to be more disciplined, myself included. We're going to battle until the end. If we're not going to the playoffs, we don't want anyone else to, either.

Bogosian put the Thrashers ahead on a shorthanded tally at 5:42 of the third period, but the Panthers came back 50 seconds later, as Stillman tipped a Gregory Campbell shot to the top right corner of the net to equalize the score.

The Panthers took their first lead late in the game. Booth took a wide-angle shot from near the crease that was initially saved, but he grabbed his own rebound and stuffed it home at 15:35.

Atlanta pulled Hedberg in the final moments for a chance to tie the score, but Florida fended off the rally and held on for the win.

Atlanta took the early lead in the first on the power play. Bogosian took the puck in the left circle and blasted a slapshot through Vokoun's legs at 9:17.

Horton tied the game late in the second period on a wide-angle shot that barely snuck across the line in the upper part of the net at 16:40.

Game Notes

Florida won the season series, 4-2...The Panthers will close out their season against the Capitals on Saturday...Florida has not made the playoffs since the 1999-2000 season...Stephen Weiss had a pair of assists for Florida, while Horton also recorded a helper.

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Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

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