Sliding Canadiens return home to take on Panthers

Hockey Betting Lines

03/25/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Montreal Canadiens will try to avoid their first four- game losing streak in over three months tonight at the Bell Centre, where they take on a Florida Panthers team that will try to win its third straight.

The Canadiens' current skid comes on the heels of a six-game win streak, but they have still been able to pick up some points thanks to a pair of shootout setbacks on the slide. Last night's 3-2 extra-session loss to Buffalo moved Montreal a point past Philadelphia for the sixth spot in the Eastern Conference with eight games to play, one less than the Flyers.

Though they did escape with a point last night, the Habs probably feel as though they should have had two. They led 2-0 late in the game before the Sabres scored twice in the final two minutes of the third period to force overtime. Buffalo then netted a pair of shootout goals on Carey Price, who had turned away 40-of-42 shots faced in regulation and overtime.

"Carey gave us a strong game, and you'd like to win that game, but the penalties made it difficult for us," Canadiens head coach Jacques Martin told NHL.com. "What you've got to learn from that is the penalties cost us."

Andrei Kostitsyn scored twice to end a 13-game goal drought for the Canadiens, who haven't lost four straight since a five-game slide from Dec. 10-17.

Montreal, which begins a three-game homestand tonight, lost despite the return of both Michael Cammalleri and Marc-Andre Bergeron to the lineup from knee injuries.

Price was making his first start in seven games and is 2-2-0 with a 2.75 goals-against average lifetime versus the Panthers. However, Jaroslav Halak could return to the net tonight instead. Halak has started all three of Montreal's games versus Florida this season and gone 2-1-0 with a 2.01 GAA, including a 38-save shutout when the clubs met in Montreal on Jan. 7.

The Habs have won seven of their last nine versus the Panthers overall, including three straight at home.

Florida will look to extend its two-game win streak this evening after beginning a three-game road trip on Tuesday with a 4-1 triumph at Toronto. Scott Clemmensen made a season-high 42 saves, falling 2:20 shy of his first shutout of the season.

"I thought we played a really solid road game," defenseman Bryan McCabe said. "We got some great goaltending and a big two points."

Panthers forward David Booth, who missed 45 games this season with a concussion suffered in late October, scored twice for the first time in 2009-10 to give him eight goals for the season. He netted 31 goals last season, but has four in his last four games.

Tomas Vokoun is expected to return to the net tonight for the Panthers after sitting out the last two games. He is 4-6-2 with a tie and 2.57 GAA lifetime versus the Canadiens.

The Panthers are seven points back of the Boston Bruins for the eighth spot in the East with 10 games to play.

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Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

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