Blues use power play to get past Wild

Hockey Betting Lines

03/15/2009 - St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brad Boyes had a goal and an assist, and the St. Louis Blues dealt another blow to Minnesota's playoff hopes by topping the Wild, 5-3.

Keith Tkachuk, Brad Winchester, David Backes and David Perron scored for the Blues, who have won seven of 10 overall. Chris Mason made 19 saves to earn the victory.

Andrew Brunette, Stephane Veilleux and Marc-Andre Bergeron tallied a goal apiece for the Wild, who have lost four straight and five of six to remain a point out of playoff contention, behind Edmonton and Nashville. Niklas Backstrom allowed four goals on 29 shots in the first two periods to receive the loss, and Josh Harding made six saves in a perfect third.

The Blues scored the game's first goal at the 14:44 mark of the first. Backes emerged from a scrum in front of the net with the puck and fluttered it toward the net. Backstrom fanned on an attempted glove save, as he watched the puck go behind him.

In a 1:17 span early in the second period, Cal Clutterbuck was given a double minor for high sticking, and Marek Zidlicky was whistled for a delay-of-game and St. Louis capitalized with a pair of 5-on-3 scores. Tkachuk made it 2-0 after stuffing home a rebound at the 6:37 mark, and a wrister by Perron from the left circle gave the Blues a 3-0 edge 1:31 later.

Minnesota got one of the goals back late in the middle frame. With 5:02 left to play, Brunette found a loose puck out in front of the net and hammered it home before Mason was able to locate it.

Winchester tallied for St. Louis with 30 seconds left to restore the team's three-goal lead, 4-1, at the end of two periods.

The Wild mounted a late comeback, with Veilleux scoring at 7:50 of the third and Bergeron tallying on a wrister with 5:36 left to play.

Backstrom was pulled in the final minute, but Boyes sealed it with an empty- net goal for St. Louis.

Game Notes

St. Louis won the season series, 3-1-0, taking a season slate from Minnesota for the first time since the 2002-03 season...The Blues went 3-for-7 on the power play, while Minnesota failed on two chances...The Wild fell to 14-18-2 on the road, while St. Louis improved to 19-13-5 at home.

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Pacific-10 Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Stanford

Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.

Should be in:

Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.

Southeastern Conference odds
Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State

It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it.

Work left to do:

Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney.

Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson.

Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable.

Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile.

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