Canucks try to run home win streak to eight in test with Kings

Hockey Betting Lines

03/13/2009 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Winners of seven straight on home ice, the Vancouver Canucks begin a four-game homestand tonight versus the Los Angeles Kings at GM Place.

The Canucks haven't lost as the host since a January 31 overtime setback to Minnesota that marked their franchise-record ninth straight defeat at GM Place. However, the club has responded with the league's second-longest active home winning streak behind only New Jersey's eight-game run.

Vancouver, which is now 18-11-4 at home this year, does enter this contest off back-to-back road setbacks that ended a four-game overall win streak. The Canucks saw their win streak end with last Monday's loss in Los Angeles prior to Wednesday's 4-3 overtime defeat in Anaheim.

Alex Burrows, Ryan Kesler and Kyle Wellwood each notched a goal for the Canucks, who lost for just the fourth time in their last 16 games and still hold a one-point edge over Columbus for the fifth seed in the Western Conference. For Burrows, he netted his fifth goal in his last five games and reached the 20-goal mark for the first time in his career.

Roberto Luongo got the loss after stopping 37-of-41 shots.

The Kings have been out of action since their 3-2 win versus the Canucks on Monday. Jarret Stoll netted two power-play goals to pace Los Angeles to the win.

Denis Gauthier also tallied and Teddy Purcell recorded two assists for the Kings, who have won three games in a row and are one victory shy of their longest winning streak of the season. Jonathan Quick stopped 20 shots for the victory.

The Kings and their 67 points are five points back of a playoff spot in the West.

Los Angeles begins a stretch tonight that sees it play 12 of its final 16 games this season on the road. The Kings, who are 13-15-1 as the guest and have lost four straight away from LA, visit San Jose on Saturday before returning home to host Nashville on Monday.

However, following that test, the Kings head east to kick off a six-game road trip in Boston next Thursday.

The Kings and Canucks split their two meetings in Los Angeles this year and will play in Vancouver for the first time this season. LA has won four of the last six meetings overall as well as three of its last four in Vancouver.

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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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