Sabres visit Rangers seeking to stop road slide

Hockey Betting Lines

03/07/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Buffalo Sabres hope to put their road woes to an end when the Northeast Division co-leaders pay a visit to historic Madison Square Garden tonight for a matchup with the New York Rangers.

Buffalo heads to the Big Apple having dropped eight straight games as the visitor, with six of those defeats coming in regulation. That matches the longest road losing streak in the franchise's 39 seasons of existence, an 0-5-3 stretch during the 2007-08 campaign.

The Sabres, who are still a respectable 14-12-3 away from home for the season, had also lost eight times in a stretch of nine overall games before downing Philadelphia in overtime on Friday. Tim Connolly scored 2:31 into the extra session to give Buffalo a much-needed 3-2 victory.

Buffalo trailed 2-1 in the third period before Adam Mair scored with 5:58 remaining in regulation. Connolly later put the Sabres ahead to stay when he banked home a rebound of Toni Lydman's shot from the point midway through the extra session.

Both Connolly and Adam Mair finished with a goal and an assist for Buffalo, with Thomas Vanek also lighting the lamp for his 300th career point. Goaltender and United States Olympic hero Ryan Miller did his part as well, stopping 27-of-29 Philadelphia shots on the evening.

"We made improvements in some areas," said Buffalo head coach Lindy Ruff. "We missed a couple great opportunities you wished you put in the back of the net."

The win briefly gave Buffalo a one-point edge on Ottawa for first place in the Northeast, but the Senators pulled even following last night's overtime loss to Toronto.

The Rangers come back home after being shut out by NHL-leading Washington on Saturday, when Capitals goaltender Jose Theodore turned aside all 30 shots he faced to lead his club to a 2-0 verdict.

Alex Auld, claimed by New York off waivers from Dallas earlier this week, made his first start in goal for his new team and ended with 26 saves.

"Coming into a game against this team you're expecting a lot of shots," said Auld. "But I thought we did a good job tonight and it's just unfortunate that we came out on the wrong end."

The Rangers did have leading scorer Marian Gaborik back in the lineup last night, although the star sniper wasn't a factor in his return from a two-game absence due to a groin injury he sustained while competing for Slovakia in the Olympics. Regular netminder Henrik Lundqvist, who racked up a career-high 50 saves in New York's 5-4 overtime loss to Pittsburgh on Thursday, is expected to be back between the pipes after getting Saturday's game off.

The Blueshirts have dropped two in a row following a three-game win streak and sit in a ninth-place tie in the Eastern Conference standings with 66 points, two behind Montreal for the eighth and final playoff seed.

These teams have split two previous meetings this season, with the Sabres earning a 3-2 decision at Madison Square Garden on December 12 behind a 36- save performance from Miller. Buffalo has prevailed in four of the last six overall bouts in the series.

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Will Ohio State continue to run the table in College Football betting odds?
MySportsbook.com favors Buckeyes, Fighting Irish and Golden Bears in this weekend's big games.

NEW YORK, NY, Sept. 21 - My Sportsbook NCAA football fans: things are beginning to get really interesting on college football's national stage. Following last weekend's "Separation Saturday", which included five teams ranked in the top 15 dropping games, the BCS Championship picture is beginning to take shape - with Ohio State leading the charge. And, according to odds makers at MySportsbook.com, the number-one-ranked Buckeyes will continue their winning ways this weekend.

Revenge will be the name of the game in Columbus this Saturday, as Ohio State looks to even the score following last season's loss to Joe Paterno's Nittany Lions. Although Penn State are listed as 16.5 point underdogs, they are 11-10 all-time versus the Buckeyes. Paterno and the Lions, however, will have to shut down Heisman Trophy favorite Troy Smith who has thrown for 769 yards and seven touchdowns this season.

Speaking of revenge, Notre Dame will be out for some against Michigan State, following last year's 44 - 41 overtime loss to the Spartans in South Bend. The thirteenth-ranked Irish, listed as a 3-point favorite, will also be looking to avenge last Saturday's thrashing from the Michigan Wolverines. The Spartans, meanwhile, have won seven of the last nine match-ups against Notre Dame and are coming off an impressive 38-23 victory over Pittsburgh.

Out west, 22nd-ranked Arizona State will be battling for their first victory over 21st-ranked California since 2000. Although the Golden Bears are listed as 7.5-point favorites, the Sun Devils are 3-0, lead the nation in sacks with 18 and possess the Pac-10's leading passer in sophomore quarterback Rudy Carpenter.

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NCAA Football betting lines (home team in CAPS)
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Date Favorite Opponent Point Spread
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Sept 21 GEORGIA TECH Virginia 17
Sept 22 NEVADA Northwestern 6.5
Sept 23 MICHIGAN Wisconsin 14
Sept 23 Minnesota PURDUE 3
Sept 23 SYRACUSE Miami (Ohio) 6.5
Sept 23 MISSOURI Ohio 21.5
Sept 23 Louisville KANSAS STATE 14
Sept 23 TENNESSEE Marshall 22
Sept 23 CLEMSON North Carolina 16.5
Sept 23 FLORIDA Kentucky 24
Sept 23 Iowa ILLINOIS 20.5
Sept 23 FLORIDA STATE Rice 30.5
Sept 23 AUBURN Buffalo 41.5
Sept 23 BOWLING GREEN Kent 7
Sept 23 NAVY Tulsa 4.5
Sept 23 VIRGINIA TECH Cincinnati 27
Sept 23 BYU Utah State 29
Sept 23 OHIO STATE Penn State 16.5
Sept 23 TEXAS Iowa State 25
Sept 23 Washington State STANFORD 10
Sept 23 CALIFORNIA Arizona State 7.5
Sept 23 UCLA WASHINGTON 3
Sept 23 INDIANA Connecticut 1.5
Sept 23 Central Michigan EASTERN MICHIGAN 4
Sept 23 WYOMING Air Force 1
Sept 23 UTEP NEW MEXICO 9.5
Sept 23 West Virginia EAST CAROLINA 21
Sept 23 Boston College NORTH CAROLINA STATE 7
Sept 23 GEORGIA Colorado 27
Sept 23 ARKANSAS Alabama 1.5
Sept 23 BAYLOR Army 11
Sept 23 WESTERN MICHIGAN Temple 28
Sept 23 MISSISSIPPI Wake Forest 2.5
Sept 23 KANSAS South Florida 5.5
Sept 23 TEXAS A&amp;M Louisiana Tech 23.5
Sept 23 UAB Mississippi State 9.5
Sept 23 LSU Tulane 36
Sept 23 Utah SAN DIEGO STATE 6.5
Sept 23 BOISE STATE Hawaii 15
Sept 23 Notre Dame MICHIGAN STATE 3
Sept 23 USC ARIZONA U 22
Sept 23 Oklahoma State HOUSTON 1
Sept 23 OREGON STATE Idaho 23
Sept 23 OKLAHOMA Middle Tennessee State 29
Sept 23 MARYLAND Florida International 18.5
Sept 23 AKRON North Texas 17.5
Sept 23 SOUTH CAROLINA Florida Atlantic 29.5
Sept 23 NEBRASKA Troy 23
Sept 23 SMU Arkansas State 6

For complete NCAA football odds and World Series odds please visit MySportsbook.com