Brodeur, Devils visit streaking Leafs

Hockey Betting Lines

03/03/2009 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Toronto Maple Leafs aim to extend a season-best winning streak while the New Jersey Devils attempt to remain unbeaten since Martin Brodeur's return to action when these two teams face off at the Air Canada Centre this evening.

After sitting out 50 games while recovering from surgery to repair a torn distal biceps tendon, Brodeur was back in the Devils' lineup when the team hosted Colorado last Thursday and promptly posted a shutout. The four-time Vezina Trophy winner has also been stellar in the two games following that victory, and New Jersey has won all three times since their longtime netminder's return.

Brodeur backed up his blanking of the Avalanche with a 15-save showing in a 7-2 rout of Florida on Saturday, then registered the 100th shutout of his brilliant career in Sunday's 3-0 triumph over rival Philadelphia at the Prudential Center. The 36-year-old turned aside all 27 shots he faced to earn his 547th regular-season win, which is just four shy of Patrick Roy for the most by a goaltender in league history.

For his efforts, Brodeur was chosen as the NHL's First Star of the Week for games played between February 23-March 1 on Monday.

The future Hall of Famer will now try to slow down a Toronto club that's on its best roll of the season. The Maple Leafs won their fourth consecutive game with Saturday's 4-3 overtime decision at Ottawa and have recorded a point in their last six outings (4-0-2).

Pavel Kubina was the hero for Toronto against the Senators, as the veteran defenseman tied the contest at 3-3 on a power-play goal with 5:12 remaining in regulation and later netted the game-winning score 33 seconds into overtime.

Jamal Mayers and Tim Stapleton also had goals for the Maple Leafs, with Stapleton notching the first tally of his NHL career, and Curtis Joseph stopped 29-of-32 shots between the pipes.

Despite its recent surge, Toronto currently stands in 11th place in the Eastern Conference and is eight points out of a playoff spot.

The Devils come in tied with Washington for the second-most points in the East and hold a nine-point advantage on second-place Philadelphia in the Atlantic Division.

New Jersey made a move towards bolstering its blueline for the stretch run on Monday, acquiring seasoned defenseman Niclas Havelid from Atlanta in exchange for prospect Anssi Salmela. The 35-year-old Havelid has played in 336 games over nine NHL seasons and compiled two goals and 13 assists for the Thrashers in 2008-09.

The Devils won all four meetings with Toronto in 2007-08, but the Leafs have taken the first two encounters between the teams this season, including a 3-2 shootout victory at the Air Canada Centre on December 16.

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Big East Conference odds

Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence

Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.

Work left to do:

Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.

Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.

DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...

West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.

Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.

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