Canadiens hold off Maple Leafs

Hockey Betting Lines

02/27/2007 - Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Saku Koivu and Michael Ryder each had a goal and an assist to give the Montreal Canadiens a big 5-4 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Bell Centre.

Mike Johnson, Sheldon Souray and Tomas Plekanec each had a goal for the Canadiens, who have won four of their last five games and now have 72 points, which moves them into the seventh spot in the Eastern Conference, one ahead of Carolina.

David Aebischer stopped 32 shots in the win for Montreal.

Bates Battaglia and Bryan McCabe each tallied a goal and an assist for the Maple Leafs, who have dropped three of four.

Andrew Raycroft stopped only 11-of-16 shots in the loss for Toronto, which sits in 10th place in the Eastern Conference with 69 points. Jean-Sebastien Aubin relieved Raycroft late in the second period and turned aside all eight shots he faced.

The Leafs were trailing, 5-2, to start the third period, but scored two quick goals.

Jeremy Williams scored his second goal in his second NHL game when Battaglia sent a pass from the right boards to the left circle where Williams one-timed it into the net just 1:02 into the final frame.

Less than four minutes later, a wrist shot by Alex Steen from the top of the right circle handcuffed Aebischer to make it a 5-4 game at the 4:40 mark.

However, the Maple Leafs were unable to net the equalizer and the Habs gave the home crowd a win.

Toronto drew first blood in the contest when Battaglia blasted a one-timer from the slot that went into the left corner of the net just 4:10 in.

Montreal, though, scored the next three goals and took a 3-1 lead into the first intermission.

Less than two minutes after the Toronto goal, Alex Kovalev fought off a defender for several seconds and centered the puck to Plekanec, who tapped it into the net for his 14th goal of the season.

Skating on the power play, Koivu sent a backhand pass from the right boards to the right circle where Ryder snapped a wrister over the right shoulder of Raycroft with 5:48 left in the frame.

In the final minute of the first, Radek Bonk won a right circle faceoff and drew the puck back to Johnson, who snapped a wrist shot under the blocker of Raycroft for his 10th goal of the year.

The Maple Leafs cut into their deficit in the second period with a power-play goal when Mats Sundin left a drop pass at the top of the left circle for McCabe, who blasted a slap shot through a screen to make it a 3-2 game 1:32 into the stanza.

The Canadiens answered with a power-play goal of their own when Koivu backhanded a loose puck into the net halfway through the second.

A little over two minutes later, Souray's slap shot from the right point went under the glove of Raycroft to give the Habs a 5-2 advantage.

Game Notes

Montreal begins a five-game road trip in New York on Tuesday to face the Rangers...Toronto returns home to face Buffalo on Tuesday...Montreal went 3-for-4 on the power play while Toronto scored on one of its four chances...The teams have split six games this season...Sundin had two assists in the game...Souray leads all defensemen in the NHL with 22 goals.

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Numerous College Basketball teams take final big step to March Madness betting

So, what turned on the lock spigot? Well, after what felt like weeks of teams treading water and slipping back into the bubble muck, a bunch of them finally decided to say "to heck with parity" and won games that should put them into the Big Dance.

Disagree with some of these? Then here's the challenge. Take all of the "should be ins" and make a legit case that each should be ahead of the team that's a lock. Then find 10 more teams that also should be placed in the bracket ahead of that lock team. Not so easy, is it?

If you want more evidence that these locks should be good to go, check out what our research department dug up. Since the NCAA Tournament went to 64 teams in 1985, only six teams from a "big six" conference have had a record of 10-6 or better in conference play and not been selected: Colorado (2004) and Nebraska (1999) from the Big 12, Boston College and Seton Hall (both 2003) from the Big East, Indiana (2005) from the Big Ten and UCLA, which somehow went 12-6 in the Pac-10 in 1988 and still missed out. (Note: Five teams went 11-7 and didn't get in, the latest being last season's Stanford team, which had a brutal nonconference run.)

Yes, 10 conference wins doesn't always mean what it used to because of unbalanced schedules, but this season, it should be plenty good in all but the extreme cases (see: Iowa).

In a way, this is a welcome development, because this is a bubble watch, not a lock watch. We can finally be done with teams like Maryland and Virginia Tech and start really bearing down on at-large battles such as Syracuse-West Virginia and Appalachian State-Georgia Tech.

Interestingly, all the shifting of teams into lock status appears to be more administrative than impactful. The number of remaining available at-larges didn't change one iota. The only difference is that teams on the bubble now have a clearer idea of which team(s) they are competing with for those precious bids.

The Bubble Breakdown
CONFERENCE LOCKS SHOULD BE INS AT-LARGES TAKEN
(assuming no auto bid outlier)
ACC Betting Odds 6 0 5
Big East Betting Odds 5 0 4
Big Ten Betting Odds 2 2 3
Big 12 Betting Odds 3 0 2
Pac-10 Betting Odds 5 1 5
SEC Betting Odds 4 0 3
MVC Betting Odds 1 1 1
MWC Betting Odds 2 1 2
TOTAL 28 5 25

As always, I've tried to be as inclusive as possible while only including teams that would have a reasonable chance of at least being discussed if this were Selection Sunday. If your team's not on here, there's probably a good reason (or three) -- start with the RPI and SOS numbers and work your way down.

(Please remember, per selection committee criteria, that records displayed are Division I only. Next update: Feb. 28)

If you have a legitimate grievance, or just like talking bubble, send an e-mail. Polite ones with fact-based arguments have a much better chance of receiving a response. I apologize in advance if I can't get back to all of you.

Atlantic Coast Conference

Work left to do: Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech

The ACC moves to six locks as BC, Va Tech and Virginia all got their 10th ACC wins, which should be more than enough this season, and Maryland rallied past North Carolina to get the final piece the Terps needed. After that? It could end there unless FSU, Ga Tech or Clemson picks things up in a hurry.

 

Work left to do:

Clemson [19-9 (5-9), RPI: 41, SOS: 42] The Tigers are closer to locking up the collapse of the year award (in a good battle with OK State) than they are to grabbing an at-large. Clemson's been very competitive, but there's no really positive way you can spin nine losses in 11 games. They now cannot get to .500 in ACC play and still must head to Virginia Tech in the season finale (after hosting Miami). Unless the Tigers win both and/or do some serious work in the ACC tourney, they very well could be left out. There are no great nonconference wins, but ODU, App State, Miss. State, South Carolina and Georgia are all respectable W's.

Florida State [18-11 (6-9), RPI: 48, SOS: 14] The Noles got thrashed at Maryland to run their losing streak to five, but then pounded NC State at home to set the table for what likely is an elimination game at Miami. You can at least make a case for the Seminoles at 7-9 in ACC play (and some work in the ACC tourney), but 6-10 is not going to cut it. Wins at Duke and over Florida will resonate, but the computer numbers remain questionable. Beyond Florida, FSU thrashed bubble buddy Providence, but there's not a ton beyond those two games that will help. They didn't show well in big-time opportunities against Pitt and Wisconsin (before the Florida win).

Georgia Tech [18-10 (6-8), RPI: 51, SOS: 46] The Jackets beat Wake on Wednesday but couldn't get it done at UVa on Saturday, which could be a crucial loss with UNC and BC (both at home) remaining and 8-8 almost a certain need for at-large consideration. A nonconference win over Memphis helps, but the RPI and SOS are not at-large quality right now; if you combine those with a sub-.500 ACC mark, that could spell NIT for GT.

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