Sliding Ducks host Predators

Hockey Betting Lines

03/12/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Anaheim Ducks aim for their first win in nearly a month tonight when they host a Nashville Predators club that is struggling to hold onto one of the last playoff spots in the Western Conference.

The Ducks have dropped four straight (0-3-1) since the Olympic break, meaning they haven't won a game since February 14. Anaheim will try tonight to avoid matching its longest losing streak of the season, an 0-2-3 stumble from November 29-December 6.

The Ducks began their current seven-game homestand at Honda Center with a shootout loss to Montreal on Sunday prior to Tuesday's 5-2 setback in Columbus on Tuesday.

Anaheim trailed 3-0 going into the third period before goals by Lubomir Visnovsky and Ryan Getzlaf in the frame pulled it within one. However, the Ducks failed to get any closer.

Jonas Hiller allowed three goals on 20 shots but was pulled in the second period. Curtis McElhinney, who was acquired last week from Calgary for Vesa Toskala, made his debut with the Ducks and turned aside seven shots in relief.

Anaheim, which was without Teemu Selanne because of flu-like symptoms, lost for the third straight time at home since a franchise-record 11-game home winning streak and have fallen nine points behind Nashville and Calgary for the final two playoff spots in the Western Conference.

"You can't come out of a break looking for a playoff run and then drop four straight," said Bobby Ryan, who had two assists. "It's unacceptable."

Nashville will look to take advantage of slumping Anaheim tonight in an effort to strengthen its playoff bid. The Predators have lost three of their last four and are a mere one point up on the ninth-seeded Red Wings in the standings.

The Preds were in San Jose last night and took a two-goal lead into the third period before getting outscored 6-1 in the final frame on the way to an 8-5 setback.

Patric Hornqvist and J.P. Dumont each had two goals for Nashville, while Dan Ellis was victimized for six goals on 23 shots before he was relieved by Pekka Rinne late in the third. Rinne faced only two shots and yielded the goal to Marleau.

"There were sort of horrendous things that happened," said Preds head coach Barry Trotz. "The goaltender misplays the puck and they get it, then we come back and show come character and tie it, 5-5. Then a really bad goal for the sixth, and that sort of destroyed us at that point."

Nashville fell to 1-1 on a four-game road trip while losing for the eighth time in its last 11 games as the guest.

The Ducks have won two of three versus the Predators this year as well as six of nine and eight of the last 12 meetings. Nashville has also dropped two straight and eight of its last nine in Anaheim.

Whitbox Hockey Betting News

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Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.