Blues hope to keep flying high in trip to Colorado

Hockey Betting Lines

03/06/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Blues are in position to record their longest winning streak in over six years, but to reach that mark they'll have to find a way to halt their struggles versus the Colorado Avalanche this season.

St. Louis goes for a sixth straight victory when it visits Colorado and the Pepsi Center this evening.

The Blues open their post-Olympic schedule with six straight games on the road, a season high, and they have won the first two contests of that trek to run their overall win streak to five games. After a victory at Phoenix on Tuesday, St. Louis claimed a 6-1 triumph in Dallas on Thursday behind a pair of goals from Paul Kariya that give him 398 in his NHL career.

Kariya also had an assist and Alexander Steen, Patrik Berglund, Brad Boyes and T.J. Oshie all added goals for the Blues, who haven't won six straight since December 6-18, 2003. St. Louis has 23 goals over its current win streak.

"Going into the [Olympic] break there, I thought we were playing our best hockey of the year," said goaltender Chris Mason after making 29 saves. "Fortunately enough, we seem to be carrying it over after the break. We're playing hard, getting the pucks at the net and making it difficult for the goalie."

Andy McDonald added an assist for St. Louis to give him three goals and two assists over a five-game point streak.

St. Louis, now 18-9-4 as the visitor this year, are within three points of a playoff spot in the Western Conference.

The Blues hope their current momentum can help them capture their first win over the Avalanche this season. St. Louis has been outscored 9-2 in losing both of its previous meetings this year with Colorado, including a 5-2 road setback on February 8 that dropped the club to 3-6-0 in its last nine trips to Denver.

Mason was pulled in the second period of that loss after allowing five goals on 15 shots faced. Ty Conklin halted all 18 shots he faced in relief.

Chris Stewart has three goals and three assists for Colorado in the two meetings this year, and the forward has four goals in his last seven games. He did not score in the Avalanche's last contest, a 3-1 setback to Phoenix on Thursday.

Craig Anderson made 27 saves but allowed the game-winning goal to former teammate Wojtek Wolski with 23.7 seconds left in regulation. Wolski was dealt to Phoenix on Wednesday for Peter Mueller and Kevin Porter.

Mueller scored in his Phoenix debut on Wednesday night and assisted on John- Michael Liles' tally Thursday, but Colorado still lost for the third time in four games and is two points behind Vancouver for first place in the Northwest Division.

"We've come back from tough losses where we maybe should have got a point, but we respond the right way," said Anderson.

Colorado kicks off a three-game homestand tonight and is 20-9-2 as the host thanks to wins in five of six and nine of its last 12 at the Pepsi Center.

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MySportsbook.com: NFL draft - The NFC South


In part two of MySportsbook.com’s draft preview, we’ll take a look at a division that was extremely disappointing last season: the NFC South.  Many “experts” predicted the Panthers to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl, of course they could not even make the playoffs in an extremely weak NFC.  The Saints definitely made up for the disappointing seasons of their NFC South brethren by exploding out of no where en route to the NFC Championship game.  For the avid NFL gambler, it is imperative to pay attention to the NFL draft.  Although free agency gets a ton of publicity, the successful franchises build their teams around the draft.

1. New Orleans Saints
Who would have thought this time last year that the Saints would be the favorites to win the NFC South for the 2007 campaign?  New Orleans is loaded with firepower on the offensive side of the ball but with the exodus of Joe Horn they will most likely look to draft a WR on Day 1.  Despite having the NFL’s 3rd ranked pass defense last season, the Saints will most likely upgrade their CB’s with one of their first two picks. Other possibilities for the Saints will be TE and DT.  Because of where they will be selecting (27th), the Saints could go the “best available player” route which could net a LB.

Key additions: Eric Johnson TE, Troy Evans LB, David Patten WR
Key loses: Joe Horn WR,
Team needs: CB, WR, TE, LB, DT
Possible draftees: Aaron Ross CB Texas, Darrelle Revis CB Pitt, Ted Ginn Jr. WR OSU, Paul Posluszny LB PSU, Chris Houston CB Arkansas, Greg Olsen TE Miami

2. Carolina Panthers
Carolina was one of the biggest disappointments in the NFL last season.  With the signing of David Carr, expect the very first quarterback controversy to come out of Carolina if Jake Delhomme doesn’t rebound quickly from an average 2007 season. With veteran safety Mike Minter getting up there in age, they will look to draft a safety on Day 1 but probably not in the first round.  LB is another need with the loss of Chris Draft to go along with Dan Morgan’s concussion problems.  If TE Greg Olsen is still on the board, he might be too good to pass up despite their needs on the defensive side of the ball.

Key additions: David Carr QB
Key loses: Chris Draft LB
Team needs: LB, TE, S, OT
Possible draftees: Greg Olsen TE Miami, Patrick Willis LB Ole Miss, Paul Posluszny LB PSU, Levi Brown OT PSU

3. Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons were another NFC South team to have a disappointing 2007 season.  The Falcons have been plenty busy during the off season with plenty of players coming and going including a new head coach.  The Falcons were able to improve their draft position with the trade of coveted backup QB Matt Schaub.  High on the list of Day 1 needs will be a defensive end to replace Patrick Kerney and a hard hitting safety since Lawyer Milloy is nearing the end of his career.  With an additional 2nd round pick, the Falcons could attempt to trade up to acquire local product WR Calvin Johnson. 

Key additions: Joey Harrington QB, Toniu Fonoti OG, Joe Horn WR
Key loses: Justin Griffen RB, Patrick Kerney DE, Matt Lehr OG, Ashley Lelie WR, Matt Schaub QB
Team needs: DE, S, OT, WR, DT
Possible draftees: LaRon Landry S LSU, Amobi Okoye DT Louisville, Levi Brown OT PSU, Jamaal Anderson DE Arkansas, Alan Branch DT Michigan

4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Age really caught up to the Bucs last season.  The Bucs still have plenty of household names on defense in Ronde Barber, Simeon Rice and Derrick Brooks but the one thing those three have in common is unfortunately age.  It is imperative for the Bucs to get much younger, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Despite having bigger needs on the defensive side of the ball, WR Calvin Johnson is the most likely pick if he is still available when the Bucs pick at the four spot.  This would suit Bucs’ faithful just fine as Johnson is widely considered the top talent in the draft and it is a position of need for the Bucs.

Key additions: Jeff Garcia QB, Kevin Carter DE, Torrie Cox CB, Cato June LB
Key loses: Dewayne White DE, Sean Mahan OG
Team needs: WR, LB, DE, CB (Youth on defense!)
Possible draftees: Calvin Johnson WR Georgia Tech, Gains Adams DE Clemson, Jamaal Anderson DE Arkansas

It is never too early to start betting on the NFL. Log on to MySportsbook.com to checkout all of the NFL futures for the upcoming season.  On the clock: the NFC North

Odds to win the NFC South:
New Orleans Saints 8-5
Carolina Panthers 2-1
Atlanta Falcons 12-5
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 9-2    

Odds to win the NFC:
New Orleans Saints 13-2
Carolina Panthers 7-1
Atlanta Falcons 20-1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 25-1

Odds to win the Super Bowl:
New Orleans Saints 18-1
Carolina Panthers 20-1
Atlanta Falcons 50-1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 75-1

To visit this sportsbook get to MySportsbook.com for all your online sportsbook needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.