Streaking Canadiens begin road swing against Rangers

Hockey Betting Lines

02/27/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Having re-discovered their winning ways, the Montreal Canadiens begin an important road trip tonight at Madison Square Garden against a New York Rangers team in desperate need of a victory.

The Canadiens have rebounded strongly from a six-game losing streak they endured earlier this month. Montreal has won four of five since that spell, including last night's 5-4 triumph over rival Toronto at the Bell Centre.

Saku Koivu and Michael Ryder each had a goal and an assist to lead the Habs, while Mike Johnson, Sheldon Souray and Tomas Plekanec also scored in the victory. David Aebischer made a strong contribution between the pipes, as the veteran stopped 32 shots for Montreal.

Monday's win moved the Canadiens past Carolina and into seventh place in the Eastern Conference standings. Montreal has 72 points on the season, one more than the defending Stanley Cup champion Hurricanes.

Souray has now notched a point in six consecutive games, having compiled three goals and three assists during that span.

Montreal, which owns a 14-14-3 record away from home, will start up a five- game road swing this evening.

The Rangers have been headed in the opposite direction as the Canadiens. New York has lost its last three contests and is tied for 11th place in the East, seven points in back of Carolina in the race for the conference's final playoff spot.

The last two defeats have come in front of the home fans, the most recent being a disappointing 3-2 setback to the lowly Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday.

New York built an early 2-0 lead on goals by Blair Betts and Jaromir Jagr, but Columbus drew even with a pair of shorthanded tallies before Rick Nash netted the game-winner late in the second period.

Petr Prucha assisted on Jagr's score and now has three goals and a pair of helpers during a current five-game point streak.

Rangers forward Martin Straka was forced to leave Sunday's game with an upper body injury. The veteran Czech, who is tied for second on the team with 65 points, is questionable to return this evening.

The Rangers will be playing the third test of a season-high six-game homestand tonight. The club has struggled at the Garden throughout the year, however, bringing just a 12-14-4 home mark into tonight's tilt.

New York did win the only previous meeting between these teams in 2006-07, a 4-3 triumph at the Bell Centre on January 6. Montreal won three of its four matchups with the Rangers last season, including both encounters in Manhattan.

Wsbgglobal Hockey Betting News

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Elite 8 NCAA Tournament Betting at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com

In what should be an outstanding Saturday of March Madness betting action, the top four teams in the South and West Regions square off in what should be extremely close match-ups. Three of the four teams are coming off extremely close games on Thursday evening, only UCLA won semi comfortably over Pitt 64-55.

Ohio State is coming off their second game in a row where in all reality they should have lost. Of course that doesn’t matter now since the name of the game is “survive and advance” but as the tournament continues, they can’t afford to keep getting down to their opponents early. Kansas also avoided a scare by holding off a scrappy Southern Illinois squad. In the third thrilling game of the evening Memphis pulled off the minor upset (+3.5) despite being the higher seed to Texas A&M.

Although the spreads are fairly small for Saturday’s games, MySportsbook.com continue to bet against the underdogs. Despite OSU’s two scares, 86% of the “betting public” feels the Buckeyes (-1.5) have what it takes to make the Final Four. In fact, so much of the early money is on OSU that the line has already moved from -1 to -1.5. In the second game of the doubleheader, Kansas and their high-powered offense are 2 point favorites as they take on UCLA and their effective defense. About 63% of the early money thus far is once again backing the favorites. If those percentages stay that high, don’t be surprised if this line moves as well. If you like Kansas (-2) you might want to jump on it early.

Memphis vs. Ohio State

Both squads were involved in thrillers on Thursday evening and should come out fired up. OSU can ill afford to get behind early like they did versus their previous two opponents (Xavier, Tennessee). Greg Oden needs to stay out of foul trouble; the Buckeyes are a completely different team when he is on the court. Memphis definitely has the athleticism and length to match-up with OSU. Of Memphis’ five leading minute earners, the shortest of the bunch is 6’5”. Each team has a very effective defense; Memphis surrenders 62.3 PPG whereas the Buckeyes give up only 61 PPG. With those type of numbers, it isn’t surprising that Memphis covered the UNDER almost 69% of the time this season. As a favorite, OSU has covered the UNDER almost 66% of the time over the last three seasons. The major concern for Memphis which is magnifies this time of the year is their brutal foul shooting (62%). This season, OSU is 17-11 ATS versus teams with a winning record and 7-2 ATS in all tournament games. Memphis has been an extremely reliable cover in tournament play in recent years with a 23-8 ATS record over the last three seasons.

UCLA vs. Kansas

In the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, UCLA will play in a role which they are very unfamiliar with that of the underdog. Only twice this season have they been getting points from the handicappers and both times they covered. Over the last three seasons UCLA is a reliable 23-7 ATS in this unfamiliar role. UCLA has not fared well against Big 12 opponents recently going 1-7 ATS since 1997. Giving up only 59.6 PPG, UCLA will definitely look to do what they do best: keep this game as low scoring as possible. Their defense has been especially tough during the tournament. UCLA opponents have been able to muster up only 48.7 PPG while shooting a combined 34.5% from the field. UCLA definitely has a challenge at hand with a Kansas team that is capable of putting points on the board in bunches. As a team, they average 79 PPG and shoot an impressive 49.6% from the field and 39.4% from beyond the arc. During the tournament Kansas has been “lights out” from the field having shot 56.2%.

With Friday -105 juice on Basketball betting, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on all of the “March Madness” action.  Don’t forget to monitor who the public is backing at MySportsbook.com’s “Betting Trends”.  By doing so, you have the best chance of predicting a possible line change, thus getting the best value for your wager.

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