Kings try to continue mastery of Panthers

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02/09/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Three goals seems to be the magic number for the Kings, but their first meeting with the Panthers this season was one of the exceptions to the rule.

Los Angeles shoots for its eighth straight win over struggling Florida this evening and a possible share of the Pacific Division lead.

The lowest-scoring team with 114 goals on the season, the Kings were held to just one goal total over the first two contests of their five-game road trip, getting shut out in St. Louis last Friday before a 2-1 defeat the following night in Carolina.

Los Angeles' offense got back on track a bit on Tuesday, getting goals from Anze Kopitar, Dustin Penner and Kyle Clifford, who had the game-winner, in a 3-1 triumph over the Lightning. The Kings moved to 15-0-1 on the year when scoring three or more goals and got 24 saves from goaltender Jonathan Quick.

"Usually when we do get three, we're pretty safe with [Quick] back there, obviously," said Kopitar, who has 11 points in his past 12 games and a team- leading 47 on the season. "He kept us in the game in the first period. They came hard after we scored, and he definitely gave us a chance. That's all you want from your goaltender."

Clifford put the Kings ahead for good when he hoped out of the penalty box and took a long feed from defenseman Rob Scuderi before scoring on a backhander.

"I knew he was coming out of the box, but it was more of an area pass than anything," Scuderi said. "Cliff did the rest. He was real smart by going to the middle of the ice. I kind of threw it out there, but I think it was mostly him getting under it."

Mike Richards added an assist for the Kings, his first point in nine games.

The victory pulled Los Angeles to within two points of San Jose for first place in the Pacific Division. The Sharks, who have three more wins than the Kings, have 64 points on the season.

Los Angeles didn't need three goals to beat Florida back on Dec. 1, getting 41 saves from Quick in a 2-1 win. The Kings have won the past seven encounters since their last loss to the Panthers on Nov. 27, 2002 and haven't lost in Florida since Oct. 26, 2001, winning its past three trips there.

The Panthers will look to snap those skids this evening and get back into first place in the Southeast Division. Florida fell a point behind Washington due to Tuesday's 4-0 setback to the Capitals and now sit ninth overall in the East despite being so close to first place.

Washington hosts Winnipeg this evening.

Former Florida goaltender Tomas Vokoun made 42 saves for Washington, while Scott Clemmensen allowed four goals on 24 shots. He was beaten for a goal just 13 seconds into the game and Florida lost for the ninth time in its last 13 games (4-5-4).

Panthers coach Kevin Dineen cautioned against overreacting to the bad loss.

"This is NHL hockey. It's not saving the world," he said. "When you take a good tail-kicking, you have to recognize it and accept it and say how can we be better next game."

Jose Theodore, currently battling a strained knee, gave up both goals to the Kings on 26 shots in the December meeting.

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NCAA Football Betting : USC's reward: Top spot in Top 25

NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking.

No. 1 always seems to fit USC.

Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent.

Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory.

Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3.

"We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team."

Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time.

"Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team."

The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.

"I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won."

Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State.

"There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?"

USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll.

"It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter."

While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls.

As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule.

But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference.

Get the latest 2009 BCS Championship odds at MySportsbook.com.

The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road.

The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second.

The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia.

No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday.

Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.

Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina.

Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson.

The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996.

South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20.

The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24.

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