Bruins aim to end home slide versus Maple Leafs

Hockey Betting Lines

03/04/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A Boston Bruins team that hasn't won in their home building in more than two months will host one of the NHL's worst road clubs in 2009-10 when the Toronto Maple Leafs head to TD Garden tonight for a Northeast Division clash.

Boston is 0-7-3 over its last 10 outings as the host, its longest home losing streak since a franchise-record 11-game slide from December 8, 1924-February 17, 1925. The Bruins' most recent victory in Beantown occurred at Fenway Park on New Year's Day, a 2-1 triumph over Philadelphia in the Winter Classic, and they last prevailed at home against Atlanta on December 30.

The Bruins' latest setback at the Garden took place on Tuesday, when rival Montreal erupted for four third-period goals to come away with a 4-1 decision.

Marco Sturm gave Boston a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal in the first period, but the Bruins came up empty on two chances with the man advantage in the second and were outshot by a 14-7 margin over the fateful final 20 minutes.

"I think we kind of sneaked out with a goal after the first," said Bruins forward Marc Savard. "It wasn't our best period. In the second, especially myself, we got a little cute when we had chances to score. I should have shot a lot. We should have pulled ahead in the second."

Tuukka Rask finished with 28 saves for Boston, which had won four straight road games prior to the Olympic break and is presently tied with the New York Rangers for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with 65 points, one behind the seventh-place Canadiens.

The Bruins did a little roster shuffling prior to Wednesday's trade deadline in hopes of furthering their postseason hopes. The team dealt veteran defenseman Derek Morris to Phoenix in exchange for a fourth-round selection in the 2011 draft, then acquired blueliner Dennis Seidenberg from Florida in a four-player swap that sent winger Byron Bitz to the Panthers.

Seidenberg, who competed for Germany in the just-completed Winter Olympics, compiled two goals and 21 assists with Florida and is three years younger than the 31-year-old Morris, who had three goals in 22 assists in his only season with the Bruins. Both players are set to become unrestricted free agents at season's end.

The Maple Leafs stand last in the East with a meager 49 points and have spent the past two days cleaning house, trading away two of their top forwards in Alexei Ponikarovsky and Lee Stempniak in separate deals.

Ponikarovsky, tied for second among Toronto players with 41 points (19 goals, 22 assists), was shipped to Pittsburgh Tuesday night for defenseman Martin Skoula and prospect Luca Caputi. Stempniak, who had 14 goals and 16 assists in 62 games, went to Phoenix for fourth and seventh-round picks in 2010.

The Leafs subsequently traded Skoula to New Jersey for a fifth-round draft choice on Wednesday. Caputi, a 21-year-old Toronto native who scored 51 goals in the junior ranks a few years back, is expected to join his new team for tonight's tilt.

Toronto is coming off a 5-1 home loss to resurgent Carolina on Tuesday in its first game following the NHL's hiatus. The defeat was the Maple Leafs' 10th in their past 12 contests (2-8-2).

"We had a few good chances, but we were so bad in other areas," said Toronto head coach Ron Wilson. "If you're not competing hard enough defensively, you won't get rewarded at the other end."

The Leafs start up a three-game road trip tonight and will try to improve upon a poor 8-18-6 record as the guest. Toronto, which has lost its last six away tests, has also been dealt defeats in each of its last four trips to TD Garden, with two of those losses taking place this season.

Boston had defeated the Maple Leafs seven straight times before Toronto's 2-0 win at the Air Canada Centre on December 19.

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Elite 8 NCAA Tournament Betting at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com

In what should be an outstanding Saturday of March Madness betting action, the top four teams in the South and West Regions square off in what should be extremely close match-ups. Three of the four teams are coming off extremely close games on Thursday evening, only UCLA won semi comfortably over Pitt 64-55.

Ohio State is coming off their second game in a row where in all reality they should have lost. Of course that doesn’t matter now since the name of the game is “survive and advance” but as the tournament continues, they can’t afford to keep getting down to their opponents early. Kansas also avoided a scare by holding off a scrappy Southern Illinois squad. In the third thrilling game of the evening Memphis pulled off the minor upset (+3.5) despite being the higher seed to Texas A&M.

Although the spreads are fairly small for Saturday’s games, MySportsbook.com continue to bet against the underdogs. Despite OSU’s two scares, 86% of the “betting public” feels the Buckeyes (-1.5) have what it takes to make the Final Four. In fact, so much of the early money is on OSU that the line has already moved from -1 to -1.5. In the second game of the doubleheader, Kansas and their high-powered offense are 2 point favorites as they take on UCLA and their effective defense. About 63% of the early money thus far is once again backing the favorites. If those percentages stay that high, don’t be surprised if this line moves as well. If you like Kansas (-2) you might want to jump on it early.

Memphis vs. Ohio State

Both squads were involved in thrillers on Thursday evening and should come out fired up. OSU can ill afford to get behind early like they did versus their previous two opponents (Xavier, Tennessee). Greg Oden needs to stay out of foul trouble; the Buckeyes are a completely different team when he is on the court. Memphis definitely has the athleticism and length to match-up with OSU. Of Memphis’ five leading minute earners, the shortest of the bunch is 6’5”. Each team has a very effective defense; Memphis surrenders 62.3 PPG whereas the Buckeyes give up only 61 PPG. With those type of numbers, it isn’t surprising that Memphis covered the UNDER almost 69% of the time this season. As a favorite, OSU has covered the UNDER almost 66% of the time over the last three seasons. The major concern for Memphis which is magnifies this time of the year is their brutal foul shooting (62%). This season, OSU is 17-11 ATS versus teams with a winning record and 7-2 ATS in all tournament games. Memphis has been an extremely reliable cover in tournament play in recent years with a 23-8 ATS record over the last three seasons.

UCLA vs. Kansas

In the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, UCLA will play in a role which they are very unfamiliar with that of the underdog. Only twice this season have they been getting points from the handicappers and both times they covered. Over the last three seasons UCLA is a reliable 23-7 ATS in this unfamiliar role. UCLA has not fared well against Big 12 opponents recently going 1-7 ATS since 1997. Giving up only 59.6 PPG, UCLA will definitely look to do what they do best: keep this game as low scoring as possible. Their defense has been especially tough during the tournament. UCLA opponents have been able to muster up only 48.7 PPG while shooting a combined 34.5% from the field. UCLA definitely has a challenge at hand with a Kansas team that is capable of putting points on the board in bunches. As a team, they average 79 PPG and shoot an impressive 49.6% from the field and 39.4% from beyond the arc. During the tournament Kansas has been “lights out” from the field having shot 56.2%.

With Friday -105 juice on Basketball betting, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on all of the “March Madness” action.  Don’t forget to monitor who the public is backing at MySportsbook.com’s “Betting Trends”.  By doing so, you have the best chance of predicting a possible line change, thus getting the best value for your wager.

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