Struggling Penguins head to Buffalo

Hockey Betting Lines

12/22/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pittsburgh Penguins will aim for just their third win in eight games when they visit the Buffalo Sabres for this evening's battle at HSBC Arena.

The Penguins are 2-5-0 in their last seven outings and are coming off Saturday's lopsided loss to visiting Toronto. Pittsburgh has been inconsistent and hasn't won back-to-back tests since a six-game winning streak from November 1-15

Pittsburgh has also fallen to fourth place in the Atlantic Division with 38 points. The Penguins are now seventh in the Eastern Conference playoff standings. Buffalo is ninth in the East with 36 points.

The Maple Leafs handed the Pens a 7-3 thrashing Saturday at Mellon Arena. Nik Antropov had a goal and two assists to lead Toronto to the easy win.

Petr Sykora scored twice for the Penguins in the losing effort. Sykora has 10 points (5 goals, 5 assists) over his last four contests. Evgeni Malkin also added a goal and an assist to extend his point streak to eight games.

Malkin is leading the NHL with 55 points on 15 goals and 40 assists.

Marc-Andre Fleury started in net, but was pulled after two periods as he gave up five goals on 33 shots. Dany Sabourin played the third period and gave up two goals on seven shots.

The Penguins have lost five of their last seven road games and are 9-6-2 as the visiting team this season.

Buffalo has lost three of its last five contests, but did earn a point its last time out. The Sabres were dealt a 4-3 overtime loss Saturday night in Montreal as Alex Kovalev scored the game-winning goal with just 25 seconds left in the extra session.

Andrej Sekera, Derek Roy and Clarke MacArthur scored for the Sabres, who had a three-game road win streak snapped. Jason Pominville picked up his 17th assist, and Ryan Miller made 42 saves in the loss.

Roy has recorded a point in nine straight contests and has five goals and eight assists in that span.

The Sabres have a 9-8-1 record at home this year and are playing three of their remaining four December games in western New York.

Buffalo has won two of three against the Penguins this season, but Pittsburgh has taken seven of 10 meetings overall in the series. The Pens have dropped five of their last eight at HSBC Arena.

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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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It's less than a month until the NHL hockey betting season opens at MySportsbook.com and preparations are underway for another battle in the race to hoist Lord Stanley's mug in 2007.

As cup crazy fans prepare to place their bets, one online sportsbook ,MySportsbook.com, is offering hockey betting lines on the 2007/2007 Stanley Cup , who will bring it home this upcoming season.

Despite a poor showing in last season's playoffs and the loss of Steve Yzerman to retirement, the Detroit Red Wings are early favourites at this online sportsbook with wagering odds of 6-1. The Wings will look to offensive powerhouse Pavel Datsyuk and newly appointed captain Nicklas Lidstrom to lead one of the league's most prominent franchises.

Always a threat are the Ottawa Senators, with newly acquired goaltender Martin Gerber from the Stanley Cup champion ,Carolina Hurricanes. The Sens are second best in the rankings at a 7-1 bet, and odds makers at this sportsbook are optimistic that the Ottawa squad will fare better than last season's Eastern Conference semi-final upset to the Buffalo Sabres.

Also worth noting are the defending Stanley Cup champs Carolina Hurricanes, a 10-1 bet to repeat. Behind the Canes are the New Jersey Devils, Calgary Flames, Buffalo Sabres, Philadelphia Flyers, and Anaheim Mighty Ducks all sit at 12-1. In the basement are the Washington Capitals, Chicago Blackhawks, and St. Louis Blues who all have 100-1 odds to win.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your hockey betting needs.