Canucks visit Avs in clash between Northwest's top two teams

Hockey Betting Lines

03/09/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Of all the games the Vancouver Canucks have played on their NHL-record 14-game road trip, tonight's contest with the Colorado Avalanche could be the most important.

Northwest Division-leading Vancouver will try to extend its two-point edge over second-place Colorado in the standings when the clubs clash Tuesday night at Pepsi Center.

The Canucks are 7-5-0 thus far on their swing, including wins in three of four since the Olympic break. Vancouver's 4-2 victory over Nashville gave the franchise its 40th win in 65 games, the fastest the club has ever reached that mark in team history.

Still, Vancouver leads Colorado by just two points but has outscored the Avalanche 16-7 in winning three of the four meetings this year. That includes an 8-2 triumph when the team's last met at Pepsi Center on November 14. Henrik Sedin notched his first career hat trick in that win, the Canucks' third in their last four trips to Colorado.

Sedin was one of four goal scorers in Sunday's win over Nashville, as his empty-net tally capped a three-goal third period to complete the rally. Mikael Samuelsson netted his career-high 24th goal of the game and Jannik Hansen had the game-winner with 5:42 left in the third.

It marked the NHL-leading ninth time the Canucks have won after trailing at the beginning of the third period.

Samuelsson, who scored 23 goals with Detroit in 2005-06, has scored in three straight and five of his last six games, while teammate Ryan Kesler had an assist to run his point streak to nine games (5 goals, 5 assists).

"We got some lucky breaks [Sunday]," said Samuelsson. "You know, sometimes those breaks go the other way, but tonight they went our way and we were able to get the win."

Roberto Luongo made 33 stops for Vancouver, which ends its epic swing Wednesday in Phoenix before returning home on Saturday for the first time since January 27.

Colorado plays the middle portion of a three-game homestand tonight and won for the sixth time in nine games with a 7-3 triumph over St. Louis on Saturday. Chris Stewart led the Avs' highest single-game goal output this season with his first career hat trick, capping the feat on a penalty shot.

"It's always big when you get your first NHL hat trick," said Stewart, who also had an assist and was named the NHL's First Star of the Week on Monday after totaling five goals and four assists in four games. "But more importantly we got the win. It was a big two points we nabbed [Saturday]."

Colorado, which had lost three of four coming in, has won six of seven and 10 of its last 13 as the host.

Milan Hejduk, who had missed the last 17 games due to knee and back ailments, scored a pair of goals and T.J. Galiardi had a goal and two assists. Craig Anderson had 39 saves in the win.

Defenseman Ruslan Salei left the contest with a torso injury in the second period, putting his status for tonight in doubt. Fellow blueliner Kyle Cumiskey is expected to play tonight for the first time since February 12, however. He had missed the last five games due to a head injury.

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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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