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02/06/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Toronto Maple Leafs will try to post a third straight shutout when they host the surging Edmonton Oilers in an interconference clash tonight at Air Canada Centre.
The Maple Leafs have received terrific goaltending from James Reimer in their last two trips to the ice and hope to continue that trend tonight. The goaltender cooled off red-hot Pittsburgh by stopping all 25 shots in a 1-0 home victory on Wednesday and then posted a 49-save effort in Saturday's 5-0 rout Saturday in Ottawa.
Reimer's start against the Penguins was his first since Jan. 17 and his second of the 2012 calendar year. The second-year backstop figures to get the call over Jonas Gustavsson tonight and Reimer will enter this evening's game with a shutout streak of 138 minutes, 36 seconds.
Reimer stopped 12 shots in the first period, 21 in the second and 16 in the third to record his third shutout of the season and sixth of his career in Saturday's blowout over the Senators.
"It's obviously a lot of fun," Reimer said after the shutout in Ottawa. "I wish I could take credit for it, but the guys played unbelievable tonight. Our D-men played great, boxing guys out."
Tyler Bozak and Phil Kessel each posted a goal and two assists for the Maple Leafs, who have won four of their last five and enter tonight as the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference with 60 points. Toronto is two points ahead of Washington for the conference's final postseason berth.
The Maple Leafs have won two straight and three of their last four home games and are boasting a 15-8-4 record at Air Canada Centre this season.
Edmonton comes into Toronto with three straight wins and the Oilers have posted 16 total goals over that stretch. The young club has also recorded a point in five straight (4-0-1), but the Oilers are still 11 points out of a playoff spot in the Western Conference.
The Oilers' latest triumph came Saturday against visiting Detroit, as Ryan Nugent-Hopkins netted the game-winning goal in the sixth round of the shootout to lift Edmonton to the 5-4 decision over the Red Wings at Rexall Place.
For Nugent-Hopkins, it was his first game back since he suffered a left shoulder injury on January 2. The No. 1 overall pick did not have a point in regulation or overtime, but he was able to end the game in the shootout. Nugent-Hopkins picked up the puck at center ice and went in deliberately on Wings goalie Joey MacDonald. Nugent-Hopkins faked forehand-backhand and fired a quick wrist shot to the blocker side of MacDonald.
Devan Dubnyk stopped Danny Cleary on Detroit's final attempt to seal the win for the Oilers, who broke a seven-game slide against the Red Wings.
"I think we started out really strong and came out flying," Nugent-Hopkins said. "In the third period, we knew they were going to come out strong, we just had to weather that storm. They got a few good goals but in the end I thought it was a really good character win for us."
Coming off an amazing eight-point game in an 8-4 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday, Sam Gagner continued his offensive assault on the NHL with two goals and an assist in regulation. Jordan Eberle also added a pair of goals for the Oilers, who got 35 saves from Dubnyk en route to their first three-game winning streak since a six-game run from Oct. 22-Nov. 3.
The Oilers have lost six straight on the road and will try to end that streak when they open a three-game swing tonight. Edmonton is just 6-18-2 as the guest this year compared to a 15-8-3 mark at home and the Oilers will also visit Detroit and Ottawa on this trek.
Edmonton defenseman Theo Peckham has missed the last two games after getting hit in the face with a puck during practice. His concussion tests came back negative and he could play this evening against the Leafs.
Toronto has won two of three against the Oilers and the clubs haven't faced off since the Leafs posted a 4-1 decision in Edmonton on Dec. 14, 2010. The Oilers recorded a 5-0 triumph when the teams last battled in Toronto on Dec. 2, 2010.
<< Marquette and DePaul meet in Big East action
Rosemont, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Coming off a humbling loss, the Marquette
Golden Eagles will try to bounce back tonight against the DePaul Blue Demons
in a Big East Conference battle at Allstate Arena.
This will be the 111th meeting in the a
<< Cirstea advances in Thailand
Pattaya City, Thailand (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Romanian Sorana Cirstea was an easy
first-round winner Monday at the $220,000 Pattaya Open tennis tournament.
The seventh-seeded Cirstea blew past Japanese Erika Sema 6-2, 6-2 on the
hardcourt
<< Farrington expected to become VMI's defensive coordinator
Lexington, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - VMI is expected to name Jeff Farrington as
the new defensive coordinator of its football program later this month.
Farrington became Mercer University's defensive coordinator last July as it
builds a program
<< I'll Have Another - The Overlay of the Century
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - How many times does a gambler like a horse and wish the
odds could have been much higher than they were? It does not happen that often
but when the unforeseen takes place, it's best to take the money and ask
questio
Giddy up: Spurs begin Rodeo Road Trip in Memphis >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - San Antonio opens up its annual Rodeo Road Trip tonight in
Memphis against the Grizzlies.
Since 2003, the Spurs have been forced on an extended trek for much of
February since the AT&T Center hosts the ann
Nuggets target a win vs. visiting Rockets >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The suddenly shaky Denver Nuggets will try to avoid a
season-high third straight loss tonight when they welcome the Houston Rockets
to Pepsi Center.
The Nuggets, who are opening up a three-game homestand, have dro
Thunder invade Portland's Rose Garden >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The West's best faces a tough test tonight as Oklahoma City
resumes a five-game road trip against a Portland team that has been dominant
in Rip City.
The Thunder are an NBA-best 18-5 despite losing the opener of their
Flames try for rare win in Anaheim >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Calgary Flames took care of business at home on Friday
before hitting the road for a few games. The task gets a little daunting right
off the bat tonight as they aim for their first victory against the Ducks at
Anaheim in
NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking.
No. 1 always seems to fit USC.
Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent.
Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory.
Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3.
"We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team."
Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time.
"Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team."
The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.
"I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won."
Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State.
"There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?"
USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll.
"It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter."
While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls.
As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule.
But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference.
Get the latest 2009 BCS Championship odds at MySportsbook.com.
The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road.
The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second.
The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia.
No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday.
Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.
Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina.
Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson.
The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996.
South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20.
The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24.
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