Habs hope to stay hot against Oilers

Hockey Betting Lines

03/11/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Montreal Canadiens continue their push for a postseason berth when the surging club continues its current homestand with tonight's bout against the Edmonton Oilers from the Bell Centre.

Montreal has won its last three games and is 4-1-0 since returning from the Olympic break. That outstanding stretch has put the Canadiens into seventh place in the Eastern Conference standings at the moment, two behind Philadelphia for the No. 6 spot and two ahead of rival Boston in the pecking order.

The Habs continued their strong play with Tuesday's 5-3 triumph over Tampa Bay in the opener of this three-game residency. Mathieu Darche scored twice and Scott Gomez recorded a goal and two assists to lead the offense, while Jaroslav Halak made 28 saves in a solid showing between the pipes.

"It's a big win for us after playing four games on the road," Darche said afterward. "The two goals were extra nice for me."

Gomez has had a big part in Montreal's recent spark, as the veteran centerman has notched five goals and 10 assists over his last 11 games.

The Canadiens can match their longest winning streak of the season with a victory over the rebuilding Oilers, who enter tonight's clash with an NHL-low 48 points and are a dismal 8-21-2 on the road for the season. Edmonton has dropped 13 of its last 14 tests as the guest.

The Oilers had began a string of three straight home outings with back-to-back wins over Minnesota and New Jersey, but were handed a 4-1 loss by Ottawa on Tuesday in the finale of the stand. The Senators scored three times in the third period to break open a tie game.

Goaltender Jeff Deslauriers compiled 35 saves for Edmonton, which was outshot by a 39-19 margin for the night. Fernando Pisani netted the lone Oilers goal early in the second period.

"J.D. played great to keep us in it," Edmonton center Sam Gagner said of Deslauriers. "If we're not disciplined, it's tough to bring it back. We have to try and get better."

The Oilers may be without one of their leading scorers for this evening's matchup after forward Patrick O'Sullivan left Tuesday's loss after being slashed on his left hand in the opening period. The 25-year-old wing, who has posted 10 goals and 21 assists in 65 games this season, is considered questionable to dress tonight.

O'Sullivan had a goal in the Oilers' 3-2 verdict over the Canadiens in Edmonton back on October 10, the team's second win in its last three encounters with the Habs. Montreal has taken two straight and four of the last five meetings between the clubs held at the Bell Centre, however.

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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.

The Bubble Breakdown
CONFERENCE LOCKS SHOULD BE INS AT-LARGES TAKEN
(assuming no auto bid outlier)
ACC Betting Odds 6 0 5
Big East Betting Odds 5 0 4
Big Ten Betting Odds 2 2 3
Big 12 Betting Odds 3 0 2
Pac-10 Betting Odds 5 1 5
SEC Betting Odds 4 0 3
MVC Betting Odds 1 1 1
MWC Betting Odds 2 1 2
TOTAL 28 5 25

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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