Lightning host Bruins in battle between hot teams

Hockey Betting Lines

02/23/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - One night after taking over sole possession of first place in the Southeast Division, the Tampa Bay Lightning will try to extend their lead when they return to St. Pete Times Forum this evening to face the Boston Bruins.

Tampa Bay entered Thursday's key showdown with Atlanta tied with the Thrashers for the Southeast's top spot, but pulled ahead of its rival with a hard-fought overtime victory. Martin St. Louis' goal with 1:16 remaining in the extra session lifted the Lightning to the big 5-4 win.

Brad Richards left a drop pass for St. Louis, who rifled a one-timer from the top of the left circle that beat Johan Hedberg and gave red-hot Tampa Bay its fifth triumph in six games.

St. Louis also had two assists and Richards finished with a goal and a pair of helpers. Vincent Lecavalier became the NHL's first player to reach 40 goals this season when the All-Star center scored late in the second period.

Lecavalier now has amassed 12 points (6 goals, 6 assists) during a six-game scoring streak. St. Louis (5 goals, 6 assists) and Richards (2 goals, 8 assists) have also recorded points in each of the last six contests.

The Lightning will open up a three-game homestand tonight and bring a five- game win streak at St. Pete Times Forum into this evening's test. Tampa Bay is 17-13-0 as the host this season.

Boston comes in on a roll of its own, as the Bruins have won three straight and five of their last six games to climb back into contention in the Eastern Conference playoff race. The club still trails Carolina, which holds the East's final seed, by seven points, however.

The Bruins are 3-1-0 on a current six-game road trip and posted a 3-0 decision over rival Toronto in their most recent outing. Tim Thomas stopped all 44 shots he faced in Tuesday's win to pick up his third shutout of the campaign.

Stanislav Chistov, P.J. Axelsson, and Jason York had the goals for Boston, which is 7-2-0 over its last nine games. Marc Savard assisted on Chistov's tally to extend his personal scoring tear to six games (2 goals, 7 assists).

Boston prevailed despite playing without two of its top offensive threats. Center Patrice Bergeron missed his fourth straight game with a lower-body injury, while right wing Glen Murray was scratched with a groin problem.

Murray is out for tonight's contest as well, while Bergeron's return is questionable.

The Bruins will close out this trek Saturday at Florida, then begin a three- game homestand against Atlanta on Monday.

Boston can earn a sweep of the season series with a victory tonight. The Bruins have claimed the three previous meetings in 2006-07, as well as seven of their last eight encounters with the Lightning. Boston has also won three straight in Tampa.

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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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