Tonight With Wild Backstrom

Hockey Betting Lines

New York and Phoenix are playing the first of two matchups this season and will meet again Jan. 10 in the Big Apple. The Rangers took last year's meeting by a 4-3 score in a shootout on Dec. 16 at MSG and have won six of the previous eight matchups between the teams.

 

(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The fist-place Minnesota Wild will try to avoid their first three-game losing streak of the season when they host the lowly New York Islanders for this evening's clash at Xcel Energy Center. The Wild, who are leading the Northwest Division and are tied for the top spot in the Western Conference with 44 points, dropped consecutive games on back- to-back nights this week.

 

Matt Cullen, Mikko Koivu and Kyle Brodziak all had goals for the Wild, who haven't dropped three in a row since April 2-7 of last season.

 

Niklas Backstrom stopped 28 shots in the loss, while Koivu suffered a leg injury and will miss tonight's game. Koivu -- Minnesota's captain -- has recorded a point in six straight games and is leading the Wild with 28 points on the year. Wild forward Casey Wellman is questionable for tonight after sitting out Wednesday's game with an injured wrist.

 

The Wild are 10-4-2 as the host this year and are capping a brief two-game homestand tonight.

 

New York's most recent setback came Thursday against visiting Dallas, as Brenden Morrow and Jamie Benn scored early in the third period to help lift the Stars to a 3-2 decision at Nassau Coliseum.

 

Isles forward Brian Rolston and defenseman Steve Staios will both miss tonight's game with concussions.

 

New York posted a 2-1 home win over the Wild on Oct. 10 and has won two straight in this series after losing the previous five encounters. Minnesota has won three straight and five of the six all-time meetings in St. Paul.

 

St. Louis and the Preds met once earlier this season on Oct. 8, when Nashville notched a 4-2 road victory to end a three-game slide in the series. The Blues have won the last two encounters in Tennessee.

 

The Blues went 4-1 on their recent five-game homestand and the club will play three of its next four games on the road, where St. Louis has a 6-6-2 record this season compared to a 12-3-1 mark in the Gateway City.

 

David Perron, Jason Arnott and Patrik Berglund also lit the lamp for the Blues, who are tied with Detroit for second place in the Central Division. Brian Elliott made 25 saves for St. Louis, improving his record to 13-2-0 on the season.

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Pacific-10 Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Stanford

Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.

Should be in:

Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.

Southeastern Conference odds
Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State

It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it.

Work left to do:

Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney.

Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson.

Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable.

Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile.

For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com

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