Blackhawks hope to halt fall in San Jose
Hockey Betting Lines
02/10/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The free-falling Chicago Blackhawks will try to end their longest losing streak in over four years when they continue a lengthy road trip with tonight's battle against the San Jose Sharks at HP Pavilion.
The Blackhawks are 0-5-1 over their last six games, marking the club's longest skid since an 0-6-2 stretch from Dec. 30-Jan. 11 during the 2007-08 season. The last four losses (0-3-1) have come at the start of a nine-game swing.
The recent swoon has dropped the 2010 Stanley Cup champions into the sixth seed in the Western Conference, where it's three points ahead of Los Angeles and four points behind Nashville. Chicago is now also fourth in the Central Division and nine points behind Detroit for first place.
The Blackhawks have allowed a total of 16 goals over their last three losses and are coming off Tuesday's 5-2 setback in Colorado. The score was tied at 2-2 heading into the third period, but Gabriel Landeskog put the Avalanche up for good with his tally just 38 seconds into the final stanza.
The Blackhawks received goals from Brent Seabrook and Patrick Kane, while Ray Emery was tagged for four goals on 28 shots.
"Every mistake we make is being capitalized on," said Chicago defenseman Duncan Keith. "We have to get in a better position to turn things around. Everything we seem to do seems to be harder. We have to start outworking the other teams."
Chicago is just 10-12-3 as the road club this year and has lost eight straight (0-6-2) away from the Windy City. Joel Quenneville's team hasn't posted a road victory since Dec. 14 in Minnesota.
Blackhawks defenseman Steve Montador suffered an upper-body injury in Tuesday's loss and was forced to leave the game in the second period. He is questionable for tonight.
Although they're not as cold as the Blackhawks, the Sharks haven't exactly been playing their best hockey of late either. San Jose has surrendered nine goals in losing its last two games and is 3-4-1 over its last eight trips to the ice. Despite the inconsistent play, the Sharks are still leading the Pacific Division with 64 points, two more than Los Angeles.
After losing last Saturday in Phoenix by a 5-3 score, the Sharks returned home and dropped Wednesday's close regulation decision against Calgary. Olli Jokinen capped his hat trick for the Flames with the game-winner just 3:25 into the third period, lifting Calgary to a 4-3 victory. Flames goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff also stopped 34 shots to register the 300th win of his career.
Joe Pavelski, Michal Handzus and Logan Couture all scored for the Sharks, while Antti Niemi made 32 saves in the loss.
"It's a missed opportunity," Thornton said. "We'd like to say we played good at times, it just wasn't a full 60 [minutes]."
Tonight's game represents San Jose's final home test before embarking on a season-long nine-game road trip. The Sharks are 17-9-2 as the host this year compared to a 12-7-4 mark on the road. After tonight. San Jose's next home game isn't until Feb. 28 against Philadelphia.
This evening's tilt marks the fourth and final scheduled meeting between the Blackhawks and Sharks this year. San Jose posted a 1-0 home win on Nov. 23 before Chicago posted two straight wins over the Sharks in the Windy City. The Blackhawks have taken three of four overall in this series, but San Jose has won the last three encounters at the Shark Tank.
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Big 12 Conference betting odds
Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State
Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.
Work left to do:
Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.
Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.
Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.
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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