Halak, Canadiens edge Blue Jackets

Hockey Betting Lines

02/19/2007 - Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jaroslav Halak made 31 saves in his NHL debut to guide the Montreal Canadiens to a 3-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena.

Saku Koivu, Michael Ryder and Francis Bouillon all scored for the Canadiens, who snapped a six-game losing streak. Koivu and Ryder also added primary assists in the win.

Halak was called into action after Cristobal Huet suffered a hamstring tear in Montreal's 5-2 loss at New Jersey on Wednesday. Huet was expected to undergo surgery on Sunday, and will be out indefinitely.

Nikolai Zherdev and Gilbert Brule both had goals in the third period for Columbus, which has dropped six of its last eight contests. Pascal Leclaire made 25 stops in a losing effort.

Montreal erupted for three goals in the second period to assume control.

The first goal of the game came 18 seconds into the stanza, as Ryder took a feed from Koivu along the left side of the net and snuck a shot past Leclaire for the power-play marker.

The Canadiens broke out on an odd-man rush moments later, with Ryder barreling into the zone before deeking past the lone defender. With the attention squarely on him, Ryder dished the puck to Koivu, who tucked the puck home from the doorstep.

Bouillon's wrister from the point with 11:23 left in the second made it through traffic and into the back of the net to make it a three-goal game.

Zherdev got his club on the board 8:05 into the third, and Brule beat Halak with a wrist shot from the left circle just over three minutes later to make it 3-2.

The Blue Jackets applied heavy pressure in the closing seconds with their goalie pulled, but came away empty.

Game Notes

Columbus went 2-4 on its franchise-long six-game homestand. The Blue Jackets are 14-14-3 at Nationwide Arena for the campaign...This clash marked the first encounter between these teams since they fought to a 1-1 tie in Montreal on November 11, 2003. The Canadiens have only visited Columbus one other time previously, back on October 12, 2001. The Habs came away with a 3-1 decision.

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Elite 8 NCAA Tournament Betting at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com

In what should be an outstanding Saturday of March Madness betting action, the top four teams in the South and West Regions square off in what should be extremely close match-ups. Three of the four teams are coming off extremely close games on Thursday evening, only UCLA won semi comfortably over Pitt 64-55.

Ohio State is coming off their second game in a row where in all reality they should have lost. Of course that doesn’t matter now since the name of the game is “survive and advance” but as the tournament continues, they can’t afford to keep getting down to their opponents early. Kansas also avoided a scare by holding off a scrappy Southern Illinois squad. In the third thrilling game of the evening Memphis pulled off the minor upset (+3.5) despite being the higher seed to Texas A&M.

Although the spreads are fairly small for Saturday’s games, MySportsbook.com continue to bet against the underdogs. Despite OSU’s two scares, 86% of the “betting public” feels the Buckeyes (-1.5) have what it takes to make the Final Four. In fact, so much of the early money is on OSU that the line has already moved from -1 to -1.5. In the second game of the doubleheader, Kansas and their high-powered offense are 2 point favorites as they take on UCLA and their effective defense. About 63% of the early money thus far is once again backing the favorites. If those percentages stay that high, don’t be surprised if this line moves as well. If you like Kansas (-2) you might want to jump on it early.

Memphis vs. Ohio State

Both squads were involved in thrillers on Thursday evening and should come out fired up. OSU can ill afford to get behind early like they did versus their previous two opponents (Xavier, Tennessee). Greg Oden needs to stay out of foul trouble; the Buckeyes are a completely different team when he is on the court. Memphis definitely has the athleticism and length to match-up with OSU. Of Memphis’ five leading minute earners, the shortest of the bunch is 6’5”. Each team has a very effective defense; Memphis surrenders 62.3 PPG whereas the Buckeyes give up only 61 PPG. With those type of numbers, it isn’t surprising that Memphis covered the UNDER almost 69% of the time this season. As a favorite, OSU has covered the UNDER almost 66% of the time over the last three seasons. The major concern for Memphis which is magnifies this time of the year is their brutal foul shooting (62%). This season, OSU is 17-11 ATS versus teams with a winning record and 7-2 ATS in all tournament games. Memphis has been an extremely reliable cover in tournament play in recent years with a 23-8 ATS record over the last three seasons.

UCLA vs. Kansas

In the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, UCLA will play in a role which they are very unfamiliar with that of the underdog. Only twice this season have they been getting points from the handicappers and both times they covered. Over the last three seasons UCLA is a reliable 23-7 ATS in this unfamiliar role. UCLA has not fared well against Big 12 opponents recently going 1-7 ATS since 1997. Giving up only 59.6 PPG, UCLA will definitely look to do what they do best: keep this game as low scoring as possible. Their defense has been especially tough during the tournament. UCLA opponents have been able to muster up only 48.7 PPG while shooting a combined 34.5% from the field. UCLA definitely has a challenge at hand with a Kansas team that is capable of putting points on the board in bunches. As a team, they average 79 PPG and shoot an impressive 49.6% from the field and 39.4% from beyond the arc. During the tournament Kansas has been “lights out” from the field having shot 56.2%.

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