Canucks try to rebound in Anaheim

Hockey Betting Lines

03/11/2009 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Vancouver Canucks will try to get right back in the win column tonight when they visit the Anaheim Ducks and the Honda Center.

The Canucks had matched their longest winning streak of the season with four straight victories prior to Monday's 3-2 setback to Los Angeles. Still, the loss was just Vancouver's third in its last 15 games.

With 76 points on the season, the Canucks are fifth overall in the Western Conference and are now within eight points of first-place Calgary in the Northwest Division. Vancouver is also just five points behind Chicago for the fourth seed in the conference.

Alex Burrows and Taylor Pyatt scored in Monday's defeat for the Canucks, who also lost for the third time in their last eight road games. Vancouver is 16-12-4 as the guest this year and begins a four-game homestand versus the Kings on Friday.

Roberto Luongo allowed three goals on 22 shots in defeat, only his second in his last 14 starts. Luongo hasn't allowed more than three goals in any of his last 11 outings and is 7-6-0 with a 2.50 goals against average in his career versus the Ducks.

Meanwhile, Anaheim will try to avoid dropping four games in a row since doing so to begin the season from October 9-15. The Ducks' current slide reached three games after Sunday's 3-2 loss to Minnesota.

Todd Marchant netted a short-handed goal and Scott Niedermayer lit the lamp in the game's final minute for the Ducks, who have also dropped four of their last five games. Jonas Hiller stopped 22-of-25 shots in defeat, his third straight losing start.

The Ducks now sit in a tie with St. Louis for 11th overall in the West, three points back of a postseason spot. The club will try to halt a four-game home losing streak tonight, with the last two setbacks of that skid coming on its current five-game homestand. Anaheim, which will also host San Jose and Nashville, is 15-15-3 at Honda Center this year.

Jean-Sebastien Giguere should return to net tonight and is just 1-2-1 over his last four starts. He has yielded three goals in each game.

The Ducks have lost both of their meetings with the Canucks so far this year, including a 7-6 shootout setback at home on October 31. Vancouver has won five of the last six in the series and three of its last five trips to Anaheim.

Giguere is 9-9-1 with a pair of ties and 2.80 GAA in his career versus Vancouver. He did not make it out of the second period in his lone start against them this year, allowing four goals on 13 shots faced.

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MySportsbook.com Posts Heisman Trophy Odds

With 3,919 passing yards, 32 touchdowns and a mere seven interceptions last season, combined with a powerful South Bend Heisman legacy, odds makers at MySportsbook.com have given Notre Dame senior quarterback Brady Quinn the best Heisman Trophy odds at 5-2.

Quinn isn’t the only big man on campus this season.  Oklahoma junior running back and 2004 Heisman runner-up Adrian Peterson, listed at 7-2, rushed for a combined 3,033 yards in his first two years as a college player and will give Quinn a run for his money. 

This online sportsbook has also listed Troy Smith, Ohio State senior quarterback, as another strong favorite to win the 72nd Heisman Trophy.  A 7-1 bet, Smith threw for 2,282 yards last season and also led the Buckeyes to a convincing 34-20 victory over Quinn and the Fighting Irish in last season’s Fiesta Bowl.

Current betting odds Heisman trophy are:

Brady Quinn (QB, Notre Dame)
Adrian Peterson (RB, Oklahoma)
Troy Smith (QB, Ohio State)
Michael Bush (RB, Louisville)
Steve Slaton (RB, West Virginia)
Brian Brohm (QB, Louisville)
Chris Leak (QB, Florida)
Mike Hart (RB, Michigan)
Ted Ginn (WR, Ohio State)
Darius Walker (RB, Notre Dame)
Drew Tate (QB, Iowa)
Marshawn Lynch (RB, Cal)
Kenny Irons (RB, Auburn)
Chad Henne (QB, Michigan)
Kyle Wright (QB, Miami)
Drew Stanton (QB, Michigan State)
Kenneth Darby (RB, Alabama)
JaMarcus Russell (QB, LSU)
Drew Weatherford (QB, Florida State)
Blake Mitchell (QB, South Carolina)
Reggie Ball (QB, Georgia Tech)		 5-2
7-2
7-1
10-1
10-1
12-1
12-1
18-1
18-1
20-1
30-1
35-1
35-1
40-1
50-1
50-1
60-1
60-1
60-1
60-1
60-1

For complete NCAA Football odds visit MySportsbook.com.

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.