Coyotes try to keep up February run against Flames
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02/23/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - An excellent February has helped get Phoenix into a share of first place in the Pacific Division. The Coyotes try to keep that run going this evening against a team that just had a successful run of its own come to an end as they visit the Calgary Flames.
The Coyotes have notched 17 of a possible 18 points this month, going 8-0-1 and winning three straight. Phoenix's point streak includes a 2-1 overtime victory over visiting Calgary on Feb. 9, with Shane Doan netting the game- winner and Mike Smith posting 22 saves. It was the Coyotes' fifth straight victory and seventh in their last eight versus the Flames. Phoenix has also won two straight and four of its past six in Calgary.
Phoenix's point streak looked as if it would come to an end on Tuesday versus visiting Los Angeles as the Coyotes fell behind by three goals in the first period. However, they notched a pair of power-play goals early on in the second to reverse momentum and also got the game-tying goal from Radim Vrbata while on the man advantage with 2:27 to play in the third.
Mikkel Boedker then had the game-deciding goal in the shootout to give Phoenix a 5-4 win. Vrbata ended with two goals and an assist, upping his career-high goal total to 30, while Doan also added two goals and Smith made 25 saves.
"This one felt really good tonight," said Doan. "We're on kind of a roll here, but to rally the way we did tonight, it's nice."
With the win, San Jose moved into a tie with San Jose for the top spot in the Pacific Division with 69 points despite missing a handful of skaters on Tuesday. Kyle Chipchura (upper body), Taylor Pyatt (upper body), Rostislav Klesla (upper body) and Derek Morris (personal) all missed the game and Gilbert Brule left early after taking a hit to the jaw that led to a match penalty versus the Kings.
General manager Don Maloney added a healthy body on Wednesday, sending two draft picks, including a 2012 second-round choice, and goaltender Curtis McElhinney to Columbus for center Antoinie Vermette.
Vermette had eight goals and 27 points in 60 games this season with the Blue Jackets.
"We are extremely pleased to acquire Antoine," Maloney said. "He is a smart, skilled, two-way center who will be a great addition to our lineup."
The Flames shootout loss to the Coyotes earlier this month was part of an eight-game point streak (5-0-3) that came to an end with Tuesday's 6-1 defeat to the visiting Oilers. The loss was with consequence as Calgary is now a point back of Los Angeles for the eighth and final playoff spot in the West. Phoenix is seventh in the conference, four points ahead of Calgary.
Scott Hannan scored the only goal for the Flames and Miikka Kiprusoff was touched for five goals on 34 shots. Henrik Karlsson gave up one goal on eight shots after taking over in net at the start of the third period.
"We were flat physically, mentally and emotionally," Flames head coach Brent Sutter said. "We just didn't have a push at all tonight."
Calgary lost the opener of a four-game homestand and announced on Wednesday that defenseman Chris Butler will miss three weeks with a left thigh laceration suffered versus the Oilers.
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Blackhawks shook off the absence of captain Jonathan Toews on Tuesday to record a tight victory over the NHL's top team. No longer do they look like a team that nearly torpedoed their season at the start of the month.
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Winnipeg Jets.
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time to figure out what went wrong. St. Louis gets right back in action
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(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After getting pushed below the .500 mark on the road in
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(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The well-rested Florida Panthers will try to avoid matching
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for tonight's encounter at BankAtlantic Center.
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(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Flyers hope that their latest victory can shake them out of their near month-long slump. They'll look to win at Edmonton for the first time in almost 11 years as they battle the Oilers. The Flyers kicked o
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Heat try to halt the Lin-sanity >>
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the building on any given day, the Heat look to deflate the recent surge the
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Hawks, Magic clash at Philips Arena >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Hawks have to be thrilled the All-Star break is
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Orantes elected to Tennis Hall of Fame >>
Newport, RI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former Spanish star Manuel Orantes
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Orantes, who starred on the ATP World Tour in the 1970s and 1980s,
defeated a top-seeded
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NCAA Football Betting : USC's reward: Top spot in Top 25NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking.
No. 1 always seems to fit USC.
Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent.
Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory.
Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3.
"We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team."
Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time.
"Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team."
The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.
"I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won."
Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State.
"There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?"
USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll.
"It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter."
While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls.
As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule.
But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference.
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The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road.
The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second.
The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia.
No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday.
Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.
Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina.
Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson.
The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996.
South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20.
The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24.
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