Rinne, Preds host showdown with Canucks
Hockey Betting Lines
02/07/2012 -
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - There may not be a more confident goaltender in the league
right now than Nashville's Pekka Rinne. Vancouver should have plenty of
positive feelings heading into Tuesday night after the way it won its last
game.
The Predators look for their seventh victory in eight games and seventh in a
row at home as they take on the Northwest Division-leading Canucks.
Nashville has posted the best record in the league since Dec. 28, going 14-3-0
and outscoring its opponents 55-33 in that span. Saturday's 3-1 triumph over
St. Louis put the Predators a point ahead of the Blues for second place in the
Central Division and Nashville enters tonight four points behind front-running
Detroit for the most in the NHL.
Rinne has been a huge part of the Predators' recent run. He made a season-high
42 saves versus the Blues to extend his franchise-record win streak to 11
straight games. He made 19 of those stops in the third and hasn't lost since
Jan. 5, giving up more than two goals just once over his win streak.
"I think the biggest thing is as a team we're playing consistent and well
defensively," Rinne said of his win streak. "Confidence-wise, we have momentum
going for us and we've been getting these one-goal games and a couple of huge
comeback games. I think those kind of things just glue the whole team together
and builds your confidence."
Rinne is just the fifth netminder since 1998-99 to post 11 straight victories
in a season and he is 14-1-0 since Dec. 28 with a 1.72 goals-against average
and .944 save percentage.
Martin Erat scored a goal and assisted on tallies by Sergei Kostitsyn and Mike
Fisher for the Predators. Erat and Fisher both have 16 points in their past 17
games, while Kostitsyn has 15 in that span.
Vancouver comes in having won four of five while going 6-1-2 in its past nine,
though it seemed like it was on its way to a regulation loss on Saturday in
Colorado. The Canucks trailed by a goal late and the Avs' T.J. Galiardi sent
the puck towards Vancouver's open net looking to seal things up.
However, Canucks defenseman Kevin Bieksa dove to prevent the puck from going
in and then sent the game into overtime when he scored with 34.1 seconds to
play. Mason Raymond then netted the lone goal of the shootout for an
improbable 3-2 win.
"I just tried to put my body in front of it because it was a rolling puck and
the ice was obviously bad, so I didn't want to risk swinging at it with my
stick," said Bieksa.
"Then once we got into their zone, I'm not too sure what the puck hit, most
likely a stanchion, but I just tried to put it on net because we had a pretty
good screen in front."
Roberto Luongo made 44 saves for the Canucks, who own an 11-point lead in
their division and trail the Red Wings by three in the overall NHL standings.
Vancouver also moved to 4-11-5 when trailing after two periods this season.
Ryan Kesler netted his 16th goal of the season for the Canucks, giving him
four tallies and an assist over a five-game point streak as well as goals in
three straight.
The Canucks and Predators have split a pair of meetings so far this year, with
both taking place in Vancouver. The two teams have combined for 17 goals in
those encounters, though the Canucks' Daniel Sedin and Fisher are the only two
skaters with multiple goals.
Sedin has five points in the two games and twin Henrik has four off a goal and
three assists, while Colin Wilson is pacing the Preds with a goal and three
helpers in the two meetings.
The Canucks have won six of their past eight during the regular season in
Nashville, where the clubs are meeting for the first time since last season's
Western Conference semifinals that Vancouver won in six games.
<< Pacers try to rebound vs. Jazz
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Indiana Pacers had their season-high four-game winning
streak cut short the last time out and tonight they'll try and start a new run
with the Utah Jazz in town.
Indiana dropped an 85-81 decision versus the Orla
<< Surging Bolts host low-scoring Kings
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Kings have struggled to score goals over the first two
games of their season-long road trip, failing to earn a point despite
excellent goaltending.
In fact, Lightning forward Martin St. Louis had more goals in his last
<< Elliott returns to Ottawa as Blues visit Sens
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Ottawa Senators decided last season that they wanted to
upgrade their goaltending position. Now the man that they dealt away reappears
in town as an All-Star.
Brian Elliott makes his return to Scotiabank Place this eve
<< Pens close out road trip with test against Habs
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pittsburgh Penguins have gone through a rough patch to
begin February, but they'll try to get back on track tonight when they visit
the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre.
The Penguins ended January on an eight-game
<< Panthers, Caps again do battle for first place
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Another battle for first place in the Southeast Division is
on tap tonight, as the Washington Capitals host the Florida Panthers at the
Verizon Center.
Florida enters tonight with a one-point lead over the Capitals for the
Leafs try to stay hot in Winnipeg >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It certainly seems as though the Toronto Maple Leafs made a
collective New Year's resolution of ending the franchise's longest playoff
drought ever.
The Leafs look to continue their climb up the Eastern Conference standing
Lehtonen, Stars welcome Coyotes to Big D >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The last time that Kari Lehtonen faced the Coyotes, the
Stars netminder suffered an injury that temporarily derailed his solid season.
The Finn has finally begun to find his form once again and carries a personal
three-gam
Sliding Blackhawks aim to get back on track in Denver >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Blackhawks are trying to remain positive, but
that has been tough to do over their longest losing streak of the season. The
Colorado Avalanche are going through the same struggles, but at least the
'Hawks are stil
Zvonareva, Hantuchova advance; Cibulkova exits Pattaya Open >>
Pattaya City, Thailand (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two-time champion Vera Zvonareva
and reigning titlist Daniela Hantuchova posted first-round wins, while second-
seeded Dominika Cibulkova came up a loser Tuesday at the $220,000 Pattaya Open
tennis tou
Flyers seek rebound effort against Islanders >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Flyers will try to rebound after a dismal
weekend when they host the New York Islanders for tonight's Atlantic Division
battle at the Wells Fargo Center.
The Flyers played divisional opponents on back-to-b
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.
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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