Red Wings, Wild meet for key battle in Motown

Hockey Betting Lines

03/11/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of teams fighting for a playoff berth in the Western Conference get together tonight at Detroit's Joe Louis Arena, where the hometown Red Wings take on the Minnesota Wild in a key late-season showdown.

The reigning conference champion Red Wings are in a fierce battle to earn a postseason spot this season, as the club presently trails Calgary by one point for the West's No. 8 seed. The Flames vaulted ahead of Detroit in the standings by rallying for a 4-2 victory Tuesday in the Motor City, scoring three unanswered goals in the third period to erase a 2-1 deficit.

Detroit had gone in front on second-period tallies by Pavel Datsyuk and Tomas Holmstrom, but Calgary tied the contest at 2-2 when Jarome Iginla knocked home a rebound 5:45 into the final session. Rene Bourque scored the go-ahead goal less than two minutes later, and the Flames tacked on an empty-netter in the final stages to seal the outcome.

Jimmy Howard finished with 28 saves for Detroit, which was outshot by a 15-4 margin in the fateful final period.

"I thought we got good goaltending [Tuesday] to give us a chance," Detroit coach Mike Babcock said. "We didn't respond with a good enough effort."

The Red Wings had won three of their first four outings following the Olympic break prior to Tuesday's setback and were fresh off back-to-back wins over Central Division rivals Nashville and Chicago.

Minnesota has more ground to make up in regards to a playoff spot, trailing the Flames by six points for eighth place in the West at the moment. The Wild haven't helped themselves by losing their last three games, although they did manage a point in two of those defeats.

The Wild are coming off a 3-2 shootout loss to visiting Florida on Tuesday in which the team failed to hold onto an early two-goal lead. The Panthers scored twice in the third period to force overtime, then prevailed on Cory Stillman's goal in the fourth round of the deciding phase.

"We should be playing desperate, playing playoff hockey, and we were far from that [Tuesday]," said Minnesota goaltender Niklas Backstrom, who turned in 29 saves in a losing cause.

Mikko Koivu and Robbie Earl netted first-period goals for the Wild, which begins a stretch of two straight road games tonight. Minnesota, a subpar 10-19-3 as the visitor for the season, will visit Northeast Division leader Buffalo on Friday.

The Wild has also historically struggled in Joe Louis Arena, having gone 2-8 with a tie in their last 11 trips there with losses in five of their last six games as the guest in this series. Detroit has taken five of the past seven overall meetings between the teams as well.

The Red Wings and Wild split two matchups held in Minnesota earlier this season.

Datsyuk, who has generated four goals and nine assists over a six-game scoring streak, netted both Detroit goals in a 5-2 loss to the Wild on January 27.

Wwwjazzsports Hockey Betting News

<< Surging Flyers host Bruins in Winter Classic rematch
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Flyers will try to continue their surge in the right direction when they host the Boston Bruins tonight at Wachovia Center. The Flyers are 7-1-1 in their last nine games and have greatly improved their pl

<< Blues visit Islanders at Nassau Coliseum
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Blues will try to get back on track tonight when they visit the New York Islanders for an interconference clash at Nassau Coliseum. The Blues pushed their winning streak to a season-high five games by posting

<< Hawks hope to snap funk in DC
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Hawks hope to avoid a third straight loss when they wrap up a three-game road trip Thursday night against the Southeast Division-rival Washington Wizards at the Verizon Center. Atlanta is winless so far

<< Lightning hope to get on track versus Maple Leafs
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Lightning will aim for just their second win in eight games when they visit the Toronto Maple Leafs tonight at Air Canada Centre. The Lightning are only five points out of a playoff berth in the Eastern Conf

<< Blazers hit the road to Golden State
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hoping to keep their playoff aspirations alive, the Portland Trail Blazers will hit the road for back-to-back games starting with tonight's showdown against the Golden State Warriors at ORACLE Arena. Portland is e

Penguins aim for fifth straight win in clash with hosting 'Canes >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pittsburgh Penguins will try to stay perfect since returning from the Olympic break when they visit the Carolina Hurricanes tonight at RBC Center. The Penguins are 4-0 since the league came back from the Winter Games.

Howard, Magic put streak on line vs. Bulls >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dwight Howard and the surging Orlando Magic shoot for their seventh straight win tonight in the conclusion of a three-game homestand versus the Chicago Bulls at Amway Arena. Orlando is riding a six-game

Senators resume western swing with stop in Calgary >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Having just picked up their first win since the Winter Olympics break, the Ottawa Senators will now try to pick up their first victory in Calgary since 2003 when they visit the Flames tonight at Pengrowth Saddledome. The

Sharks continue homestand with battle against Predators >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Having rallied in the third period in each of its last two victories, the San Jose Sharks wrap their season series with the Nashville Predators this evening at HP Pavilion. Even though it is getting later in the season, th

Panthers try to keep rolling in visit to Avalanche >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Florida Panthers will try to win four straight games for the first time this season when they visit the Colorado Avalanche tonight at the Pepsi Center. The Panthers come into this game six points back of a playoff spot

Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.