Oilers hoping to end longtime suffering in Minnesota

Hockey Betting Lines

03/16/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The last thing that the Edmonton Oilers need at this point in the season is a trip to Minnesota. The road-weary club will try to snap its 12-game slide in the Twin Cities, where the Wild shoot for a third straight victory tonight at Xcel Energy Center.

The Oilers have lost all three games thus far on their swing despite scoring 11 goals. Edmonton, though, has allowed 15 goals on the trek to run its overall road losing streak to five games. The team has also dropped 16 of its last 17 on the road, where it is just 8-23-3 this season.

Edmonton made a stop in Columbus on Monday and was dealt a 5-3 setback. Robert Nilsson and Aaron Johnson had a goal and an assist each and Dustin Penner also scored for the Oilers, who have lost four straight overall. Devan Dubnyk added 24 saves in the setback.

"Early on in the game we got wide open," Oilers head coach Pat Quinn said. "It was like line rushes for both teams. We had chances going their way, too. A lot of missed positioning. It was a competitive night. Certainly at the start of the third period our veterans let us down a little bit. Two quick [Columbus] goals in the first few minutes, both [on] turnovers and bad checking. It's disappointing."

Already with the likes of Nikolai Khabibulin, Ales Hemsky and Sheldon Souray on injured reserve, the Oilers scratched Ladislav Smid (neck), Patrick O'Sullivan (hand), Ryan Jones (MCL) and Fernando Pisani (groin) last night due to injuries.

Edmonton has also dropped five of its last seven overall, but one of those two victories came against the Wild on March 5, when the Oilers managed a 2-1 shootout triumph. Mike Comrie had the lone goal in regulation for Edmonton and also scored the decisive goal in the sixth round of the shootout.

The Wild and Oilers have split their four meetings so far this year, with each club winning twice on home ice. Minnesota has also won seven of its last 11 versus Edmonton and hasn't lost at home to the Oilers since Jan. 16, 2007, outscoring them 43-14 as the host in that span.

Guillaume Latendresse scored for the Wild in the March 5 loss to the Oilers, part of a span in which he has scored nine goals over 13 games. The forward has a career-high 25 goals on the season, with 23 of those coming in 43 games since being acquired by Minnesota from Montreal on Nov. 23.

Latendresse also had a goal in Sunday's 4-2 win over St. Louis, Minnesota's second victory in a row after an 0-2-2 skid. Mikko Koivu had a goal and two assists, while Andrew Brunette and Antti Miettinen both scored and added a helper.

Minnesota, which improved to 22-9-3 at home this year, enters this game eight points back of a playoff spot with 14 games to play.

"We have to win the games coming up," said Wild goaltender Josh Harding after making 35 saves. "We were ready to play, and we got a big win. [The Blues are] a great hockey club -- you got to give them all the credit in the world. Fortunately, we came out on top."

Harding made his third straight start in place of Niklas Backstrom, who is unlikely to play again tonight due to a groin injury.

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Dallas Cowboys Super Bowl Odds

Will he or won't he?  Now that the Dallas Cowboys have a new head coach in Wade Phillips, the big question will be: Does Terrell Owens stay with the team.

Jerry Jones continues to suggest that Terrell Owens will remain with the team.

"I've said that he's back, he's here, he's under contract," Jones said. "In the interviews I've just been through (to hire a new coach), it was very clear to me how highly he's thought of and how much of an impact he had on our offensive success."

Just to be sure though, Terrell Owens cleared out his locker and removed his name plate.

Terrell Owens was among the Cowboys most productive players this past season, catching 85 passes for 1,180 yards and a league-best 13 touchdowns.

But T.O. is due a $3 million roster bonus in June, then a $5 million salary this season. Cutting him before then would save a lot of money and headaches.

Aside from the questions surrounding Terrell Owens, the oddsmakers at MySportsbook.com have concerns over starting quarterback Tony Romo's state of mind and whether he will remain a starting quarterback.  It is also not known how players will adjust to new head coach, Wade Phillips.

Here are the football odds as seen at MySportsbook.com and subject to change after February 10, 2007 if not locked in prior to that date.
Arizona Cardinals 60-1


Atlanta Falcons 50-1


Baltimore Ravens 15-1


Buffalo Bills 50-1


Carolina Panthers 18-1


Chicago Bears 10-1


Cincinnati Bengals 15-1


Cleveland Browns 100-1


Dallas Cowboys 15-1


Denver Broncos 15-1


Detroit Lions 100-1


Green Bay Packers 50-1


Houston Texans 100-1


Indianapolis Colts 6-1


Jacksonville Jaguars 30-1


Kansas City Chiefs 30-1


Miami Dolphins 40-1


Minnesota Vikings 75-1


New England Patriots 10-1


New Orleans Saints 18-1


New York Giants 20-1


New York Jets 30-1


Oakland Raiders 100-1


Philadelphia Eagles 18-1


Pittsburgh Steelers 10-1


Saint Louis Rams 60-1


San Diego Chargers 6-1


San Francisco 49ers 75-1


Seattle Seahawks 20-1


Tampa Bay Buccanneers 75-1


Tennessee Titans 40-1


Washington Redskins 50-1

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook credit cards needs.

Big East Conference odds

Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence

Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.

Work left to do:

Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.

Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.

DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...

West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.

Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.

For more March Madness odds go to MySportsbook.com

For more College Basketball betting lines go to BettingExpress.com

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