Blackhawks hope to stay on track vs. Blue Jackets

Hockey Betting Lines

02/18/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Blackhawks have put their longest losing streak in over five years behind them and will try to record consecutive wins when they visit the Columbus Blue Jackets today at Nationwide Arena.

The Blackhawks were on an 0-8-1 slide entering Thursday's road game against the New York Rangers and Chicago posted a 4-2 win over the Eastern Conference leaders. It was Chicago's first win since Jan. 20 and it ended the club's longest losing streak since an 0-8-2 stretch from Jan. 4-26, 2007.

Chicago's recent struggles hurt the team's postseason standing and the Blackhawks are currently sixth in the Western Conference and five points behind Nashville for the fifth seed.

Jonathan Toews and Marian Hossa each had a goal and an assist in a big first period Thursday at Madison Square Garden. Toews scored on a penalty shot to make it 1-0 just 65 seconds into the game and Hossa scored at 9:38 of the first to push Chicago's lead to 4-0.

"We have to keep going here because we put ourselves in a tough situation," said Toews. "We need to keep digging our way out of this hole and play hard."

Nick Leddy and Patrick Sharp also scored while Corey Crawford stopped 22 shots for the Blackhawks, who also halted an 11-game road skid. Chicago is 1-6-1 on a nine-game road trip that ends today and the 'Hawks are just 11-15-3 as the visiting club this year.

Following today's tilt, the Blackhawks will return home for their next three games.

Although the Blue Jackets are still dead last in the NHL with 40 points, the club has played its best hockey of the season in recent weeks. Columbus is 4-3-0 in February to match its best win total from any month this season.

Columbus recorded a 2-1 regulation win when it last played on Tuesday against the visiting St. Louis Blues. Derek Dorsett scored the game-winning goal in the third period to lift the Blue Jackets to their fourth win in six games.

James Wisniewski also scored and Steve Mason made 31 saves for the Blue Jackets.

"I thought it was a terrific hockey game and I'm really pleased with the way our guys played tonight," Blue Jackets interim head coach Todd Richards said. "It was one of our best 60-minute performances of the year."

Columbus is 10-15-3 as the host this year and is completing a three-game homestand today. It could have defenseman Brett Lebda back in the lineup tonight after activating him from injured reserve on Friday. He had missed the past five games with a hand injury.

Goaltender Curtis Sanford was placed on IR due to an upper-body ailment.

Chicago has won five straight against the Blue Jackets and is 4-0 in this year's season series. The Blackhawks have taken four in a row and seven of the last eight encounters in Ohio.

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Pacific-10 Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Stanford

Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.

Should be in:

Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.

Southeastern Conference odds
Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State

It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it.

Work left to do:

Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney.

Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson.

Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable.

Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile.

For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com

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