Canadiens hold off Maple Leafs

Hockey Betting Lines

02/27/2007 - Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Saku Koivu and Michael Ryder each had a goal and an assist to give the Montreal Canadiens a big 5-4 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Bell Centre.

Mike Johnson, Sheldon Souray and Tomas Plekanec each had a goal for the Canadiens, who have won four of their last five games and now have 72 points, which moves them into the seventh spot in the Eastern Conference, one ahead of Carolina.

David Aebischer stopped 32 shots in the win for Montreal.

Bates Battaglia and Bryan McCabe each tallied a goal and an assist for the Maple Leafs, who have dropped three of four.

Andrew Raycroft stopped only 11-of-16 shots in the loss for Toronto, which sits in 10th place in the Eastern Conference with 69 points. Jean-Sebastien Aubin relieved Raycroft late in the second period and turned aside all eight shots he faced.

The Leafs were trailing, 5-2, to start the third period, but scored two quick goals.

Jeremy Williams scored his second goal in his second NHL game when Battaglia sent a pass from the right boards to the left circle where Williams one-timed it into the net just 1:02 into the final frame.

Less than four minutes later, a wrist shot by Alex Steen from the top of the right circle handcuffed Aebischer to make it a 5-4 game at the 4:40 mark.

However, the Maple Leafs were unable to net the equalizer and the Habs gave the home crowd a win.

Toronto drew first blood in the contest when Battaglia blasted a one-timer from the slot that went into the left corner of the net just 4:10 in.

Montreal, though, scored the next three goals and took a 3-1 lead into the first intermission.

Less than two minutes after the Toronto goal, Alex Kovalev fought off a defender for several seconds and centered the puck to Plekanec, who tapped it into the net for his 14th goal of the season.

Skating on the power play, Koivu sent a backhand pass from the right boards to the right circle where Ryder snapped a wrister over the right shoulder of Raycroft with 5:48 left in the frame.

In the final minute of the first, Radek Bonk won a right circle faceoff and drew the puck back to Johnson, who snapped a wrist shot under the blocker of Raycroft for his 10th goal of the year.

The Maple Leafs cut into their deficit in the second period with a power-play goal when Mats Sundin left a drop pass at the top of the left circle for McCabe, who blasted a slap shot through a screen to make it a 3-2 game 1:32 into the stanza.

The Canadiens answered with a power-play goal of their own when Koivu backhanded a loose puck into the net halfway through the second.

A little over two minutes later, Souray's slap shot from the right point went under the glove of Raycroft to give the Habs a 5-2 advantage.

Game Notes

Montreal begins a five-game road trip in New York on Tuesday to face the Rangers...Toronto returns home to face Buffalo on Tuesday...Montreal went 3-for-4 on the power play while Toronto scored on one of its four chances...The teams have split six games this season...Sundin had two assists in the game...Souray leads all defensemen in the NHL with 22 goals.

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Elite 8 NCAA Tournament Betting at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com

In what should be an outstanding Saturday of March Madness betting action, the top four teams in the South and West Regions square off in what should be extremely close match-ups. Three of the four teams are coming off extremely close games on Thursday evening, only UCLA won semi comfortably over Pitt 64-55.

Ohio State is coming off their second game in a row where in all reality they should have lost. Of course that doesn’t matter now since the name of the game is “survive and advance” but as the tournament continues, they can’t afford to keep getting down to their opponents early. Kansas also avoided a scare by holding off a scrappy Southern Illinois squad. In the third thrilling game of the evening Memphis pulled off the minor upset (+3.5) despite being the higher seed to Texas A&M.

Although the spreads are fairly small for Saturday’s games, MySportsbook.com continue to bet against the underdogs. Despite OSU’s two scares, 86% of the “betting public” feels the Buckeyes (-1.5) have what it takes to make the Final Four. In fact, so much of the early money is on OSU that the line has already moved from -1 to -1.5. In the second game of the doubleheader, Kansas and their high-powered offense are 2 point favorites as they take on UCLA and their effective defense. About 63% of the early money thus far is once again backing the favorites. If those percentages stay that high, don’t be surprised if this line moves as well. If you like Kansas (-2) you might want to jump on it early.

Memphis vs. Ohio State

Both squads were involved in thrillers on Thursday evening and should come out fired up. OSU can ill afford to get behind early like they did versus their previous two opponents (Xavier, Tennessee). Greg Oden needs to stay out of foul trouble; the Buckeyes are a completely different team when he is on the court. Memphis definitely has the athleticism and length to match-up with OSU. Of Memphis’ five leading minute earners, the shortest of the bunch is 6’5”. Each team has a very effective defense; Memphis surrenders 62.3 PPG whereas the Buckeyes give up only 61 PPG. With those type of numbers, it isn’t surprising that Memphis covered the UNDER almost 69% of the time this season. As a favorite, OSU has covered the UNDER almost 66% of the time over the last three seasons. The major concern for Memphis which is magnifies this time of the year is their brutal foul shooting (62%). This season, OSU is 17-11 ATS versus teams with a winning record and 7-2 ATS in all tournament games. Memphis has been an extremely reliable cover in tournament play in recent years with a 23-8 ATS record over the last three seasons.

UCLA vs. Kansas

In the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, UCLA will play in a role which they are very unfamiliar with that of the underdog. Only twice this season have they been getting points from the handicappers and both times they covered. Over the last three seasons UCLA is a reliable 23-7 ATS in this unfamiliar role. UCLA has not fared well against Big 12 opponents recently going 1-7 ATS since 1997. Giving up only 59.6 PPG, UCLA will definitely look to do what they do best: keep this game as low scoring as possible. Their defense has been especially tough during the tournament. UCLA opponents have been able to muster up only 48.7 PPG while shooting a combined 34.5% from the field. UCLA definitely has a challenge at hand with a Kansas team that is capable of putting points on the board in bunches. As a team, they average 79 PPG and shoot an impressive 49.6% from the field and 39.4% from beyond the arc. During the tournament Kansas has been “lights out” from the field having shot 56.2%.

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