Kovalev, Canadiens host Hurricanes

Hockey Betting Lines

12/21/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A three-time 30-goal scorer, Montreal's Alex Kovalev is showing signs of breaking out of his scoring slump. Kovalev aims to light the lamp for a fourth straight game tonight, as the Canadiens host the Carolina Hurricanes at the Bell Centre.

Kovalev is coming off a 2007-08 season that saw him post 35 goals and 49 assists for 84 points. It was his best scoring campaign since notching 44 goals, 51 assists and 95 points in 2000-01 with Pittsburgh.

However, he has just eight goals and 18 assists in 32 games this year, but since going 19 games without a tally he has scored in three straight contests. That includes the overtime game-winner in last night's 4-3 win versus Buffalo.

Kovalev's wrister from in close with just 25 seconds left on the clock gave the Canadiens their second straight win on the heels of a three-game slide. It also came on Montreal's second man advantage of the overtime session and was just Kovalev's second power-play goal of the year. He had a career-high 17 last season.

Sergei Kostitsyn scored twice and Alex Tanguay tallied for Montreal, which closes out a three-game homestand tonight and is 11-4-3 as the host this year. Jaroslav Halak allowed three goals on 34 shots in the win and Andrei Markov had two assists.

Halak continues to play with Carey Price out with a left quadriceps/knee injury. Andrei Kostitsyn, meanwhile, missed last night's test due to a knee ailment and is day-to-day.

The Hurricanes began a four-game road trip on Saturday night and had a six- game point streak (3-0-3) halted with a 4-2 setback to the Boston Bruins.

Joni Pitkanen and Ray Whitney scored for Carolina, which had won two in a row. Rod Brind'Amour assisted on both goals for the Hurricanes to give him seven helpers over a six-game assist streak.

Cam Ward made 32 saves in defeat.

Carolina, eight points back of first-place Washington in the Southeast Division, is 6-5-4 on the road this year and has lost three straight and six of its last seven as the road team.

These two clubs will close out their four-game season series. Montreal took the first meeting at home, but has since lost two straight in Carolina. The Hurricanes have won seven of the last 10 in the series overall and six of its last seven at the Bell Centre, with the Habs' earlier win there snapping a six-game series home losing streak.

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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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