Habs and Bruins square off as playoff hopefuls

Hockey Betting Lines

03/13/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Montreal Canadiens look to further their playoff chances and defeat Boston for the fifth time in six meetings this year tonight at the Bell Centre, while the Bruins hope to strengthen their hold on the Eastern Conference's final postseason spot.

It was the Bruins who won five of six versus the Canadiens last year en route to a 116-point season that gave them the top seed in the East. Montreal, meanwhile, snuck in as the eighth seed with 93 points but was then swept out of the first round by Boston.

The Habs, however, have won four of five this year in the series, including a pair of shootout victories. They recorded a 4-1 win in Boston when the teams last met on March 2 and have won nine of the last 12 played at Bell Centre in the series.

Montreal's Glen Metropolit had a goal and an assist in the most recent meeting to give him four goals and two assists in the five games this season. The 35- year-old has 15 goals on the year, his highest single-season total in eight NHL campaigns.

Montreal has won a season high-tying four straight games and Thursday's 5-4 shootout win over Edmonton moved the club into a tie with Philadelphia for the sixth spot in the East with 74 points. Boston is eighth and two points back.

Sergei Kostitsyn, Travis Moen, Tomas Plekanec and Brian Gionta all scored in regulation and Jaroslav Halak made 21 saves before stopping all five skaters he faced in the shootout. Montreal missed on its first four attempts before Andrei Kostitsyn's tally in the shootout's fifth round.

"We knew before the game that [the Oilers] had nothing to lose, and they wound up strong against us," Halak said. "It was crazy goals against us, but that happens. What counts is that we won the game."

The Canadiens have won six of their last eight at home and will try to win five straight overall for the first time since Oct. 11-20, 2008. They could opt to go with Carey Price in net since he is 3-0-0 with a 0.97 goals-against average versus the Bruins this year. Halak started the other two meetings, going 1-1-0 with a 2.40 GAA.

Montreal also figures to have Maxim Lapierre back tonight after he served the final contest of his four-game suspension on Thursday for a hit from behind on Scott Nichol of San Jose back on March 4.

The Bruins come into this game 7-2-1 in their last 10 contests and are three points up on the New York Rangers for the conference's last playoff spot. They also got their sputtering offense on track Thursday in a 5-1 triumph over the Flyers, marking just the third time since Jan. 1 that Boston scored more than three goals in a game.

"We try to create a lot of energy and bring a lot of emotions to our game," said Boston captain Zdeno Chara. "Making simple plays but important plays to establish a forecheck and put pressure on them."

Patrice Bergeron, moved to the first line due to an injury to Marc Savard, scored and added two assists. Savard is likely to miss the rest of the season due to a concussion suffered on a blind-side hit by Pittsburgh's Matt Cooke last Sunday.

Tuukka Rask made 31 saves and Marco Sturm, Blake Wheeler and David Krejci each posted a goal and an assist for the Bruins, who improved to 2-1-1 on a seven- game road trip while winning for the sixth time in their last eight games as the guest.

Rask made 36 saves in a 3-0 victory over Montreal at the Bell Centre on Feb. 7 and is 1-1-1 with a 1.76 GAA in four games (3 starts) versus the Habs this year. Tim Thomas is 0-1-1 with a 3.44 GAA in the other two starts.

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Big East Conference odds

Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence

Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.

Work left to do:

Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.

Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.

DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...

West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.

Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.

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Brandon Roy Favorite to Win 2007 NBA Rookie of the Year

Portland TrailBlazer’s guard, Brandon Roy, is MySportsbook.com’s overwhelming favorite to win the NBA Rookie of the Year odds.

Despite missing 20 games due to an injury earlier this season, Roy has definitely put up the best numbers of his 1st year peers. In 32 games, Roy is averaging 15.3 PPG, 4.2 boards and 3.5 assists in over 33 minutes of play per game. While most rookies breakdown as the season progresses (see Morrison), Roy is only getting stronger as his playing time and scoring average has increased each month.

With 30 or so games left in the regular season, Roy isn’t a lock for the award by any means. Other rookies are putting together some pretty impressive campaigns and a few could give Roy a run for the award with increased playing time. Heading the list is first pick, Andrea Bargnani of the Toronto Raptors. Even though he has started only two games all season, Bargnani is averaging 10.3 PPPG while shooting 35% from deep.

Randy Foye of the Minnesota Timberwolves could be set to give Roy the best competition NBA Rookie of the Year betting lines. With the benching of Mike James, Foye looks like he could be the starter in the T-Wolves backcourt for the rest of the season. So far, Foye has averaged 9 PPG and 2.4 assists in just under 21 minutes per game. With his new role of starter, Foye’s numbers will definitely increase. In his first game as the new starting guard this past Sunday, Foye had 10 points; five rebounds and 8 assists. More importantly, he logged 34 minutes of playing time; his third highest run of the season.

Adam Morrison, of the Charlotte Bobcats, was the favorite early on in the season after averaging 15+ PPG through the first month of the season. Ever since his torrid start, Morrison’s point production has declined each month. This really isn’t surprising, considering at 6’8” he only weighs 205 lbs. Obviously he will need to hit the weights big time during the off-season in order to keep from breaking down in the future.

Be sure to log on to MySportsbook.com to bet on the NBA. With the regular season about to hit the homestretch, it is important to point out that MySportsbook.com has the highest credit card acceptance rate in the industry.

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