Bruins shoot for seventh straight win in visit to Carolina

Hockey Betting Lines

12/27/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Bruins will aim for their seventh consecutive victory when they visit the Carolina Hurricanes for this evening's matchup at RBC Center.

The Bruins, who lead the Eastern Conference and Southeast Division with 54 points, haven't lost since falling at Washington on December 10. In addition to winning six straight, Boston has also posted a 20-2-1 record in its last 23 outings.

Boston is 2-0 so far on a five-game road trip that will keep the team busy for the rest of the calendar year. The Bruins are 12-4-3 as the visiting club and have won three straight and five of their last six on the road. Boston will visit Atlanta on Sunday before stopping in Pittsburgh on Tuesday.

The most-recent victory for the Bruins came Tuesday evening at New Jersey. Tim Thomas made 25 saves for his third shutout of the season, as Boston notched a 2-0 win over the Devils at the Prudential Center.

Milan Lucic and David Krejci lit the lamp for the Bruins. Phil Kessel, who was sporting an NHL-best 18-game point streak coming into the game, was held pointless in the victory.

Lucic is now tied for the longest point streak in the NHL at eight games, while Krejci has reached the scoresheet in six straight tests. Todd White of Atlanta also has an eight-game point streak.

Carolina won for the second time in three games on Friday night, as they edged the Thrashers in Atlanta. Eric Staal's third-period hat trick helped the Hurricanes overtake Atlanta, 5-4, at Philips Arena.

Staal scored his first goal of the game at 7:27 of the third period to knot the score at 3-3. After Bryan Little gave Atlanta a 4-3 edge, Staal then scored two more goals in a span of just over one minute around the midway point of the period to put the 'Canes ahead for good.

Chad LaRose and Patrick Eaves notched the other two goals for the Hurricanes, who have earned points in eight of their last 10 games, going 5-2-3 during that span.

Ray Whitney collected three assists, while Cam Ward made 27 saves to pick up his 12th win of the season. Whitney has recorded a point in five straight games and has two goals and seven helpers during the run.

This evening's test marks the first of a three-game homestand for the Hurricanes, who are 9-8-1 as the host this year. Carolina has won three in a row on home ice after dropping its previous five tests in Raleigh.

Boston earned a 4-2 home win over the Hurricanes on December 20 in the first of four meetings between the clubs this year. The Bruins have won the last two encounters, but Carolina has still taken six of nine matchups in the series. The Bruins have won two of their last three games in Raleigh.

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Numerous College Basketball teams take final big step to March Madness betting

So, what turned on the lock spigot? Well, after what felt like weeks of teams treading water and slipping back into the bubble muck, a bunch of them finally decided to say "to heck with parity" and won games that should put them into the Big Dance.

Disagree with some of these? Then here's the challenge. Take all of the "should be ins" and make a legit case that each should be ahead of the team that's a lock. Then find 10 more teams that also should be placed in the bracket ahead of that lock team. Not so easy, is it?

If you want more evidence that these locks should be good to go, check out what our research department dug up. Since the NCAA Tournament went to 64 teams in 1985, only six teams from a "big six" conference have had a record of 10-6 or better in conference play and not been selected: Colorado (2004) and Nebraska (1999) from the Big 12, Boston College and Seton Hall (both 2003) from the Big East, Indiana (2005) from the Big Ten and UCLA, which somehow went 12-6 in the Pac-10 in 1988 and still missed out. (Note: Five teams went 11-7 and didn't get in, the latest being last season's Stanford team, which had a brutal nonconference run.)

Yes, 10 conference wins doesn't always mean what it used to because of unbalanced schedules, but this season, it should be plenty good in all but the extreme cases (see: Iowa).

In a way, this is a welcome development, because this is a bubble watch, not a lock watch. We can finally be done with teams like Maryland and Virginia Tech and start really bearing down on at-large battles such as Syracuse-West Virginia and Appalachian State-Georgia Tech.

Interestingly, all the shifting of teams into lock status appears to be more administrative than impactful. The number of remaining available at-larges didn't change one iota. The only difference is that teams on the bubble now have a clearer idea of which team(s) they are competing with for those precious bids.

The Bubble Breakdown
CONFERENCE LOCKS SHOULD BE INS AT-LARGES TAKEN
(assuming no auto bid outlier)
ACC Betting Odds 6 0 5
Big East Betting Odds 5 0 4
Big Ten Betting Odds 2 2 3
Big 12 Betting Odds 3 0 2
Pac-10 Betting Odds 5 1 5
SEC Betting Odds 4 0 3
MVC Betting Odds 1 1 1
MWC Betting Odds 2 1 2
TOTAL 28 5 25

As always, I've tried to be as inclusive as possible while only including teams that would have a reasonable chance of at least being discussed if this were Selection Sunday. If your team's not on here, there's probably a good reason (or three) -- start with the RPI and SOS numbers and work your way down.

(Please remember, per selection committee criteria, that records displayed are Division I only. Next update: Feb. 28)

If you have a legitimate grievance, or just like talking bubble, send an e-mail. Polite ones with fact-based arguments have a much better chance of receiving a response. I apologize in advance if I can't get back to all of you.

Atlantic Coast Conference

Work left to do: Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech

The ACC moves to six locks as BC, Va Tech and Virginia all got their 10th ACC wins, which should be more than enough this season, and Maryland rallied past North Carolina to get the final piece the Terps needed. After that? It could end there unless FSU, Ga Tech or Clemson picks things up in a hurry.

 

Work left to do:

Clemson [19-9 (5-9), RPI: 41, SOS: 42] The Tigers are closer to locking up the collapse of the year award (in a good battle with OK State) than they are to grabbing an at-large. Clemson's been very competitive, but there's no really positive way you can spin nine losses in 11 games. They now cannot get to .500 in ACC play and still must head to Virginia Tech in the season finale (after hosting Miami). Unless the Tigers win both and/or do some serious work in the ACC tourney, they very well could be left out. There are no great nonconference wins, but ODU, App State, Miss. State, South Carolina and Georgia are all respectable W's.

Florida State [18-11 (6-9), RPI: 48, SOS: 14] The Noles got thrashed at Maryland to run their losing streak to five, but then pounded NC State at home to set the table for what likely is an elimination game at Miami. You can at least make a case for the Seminoles at 7-9 in ACC play (and some work in the ACC tourney), but 6-10 is not going to cut it. Wins at Duke and over Florida will resonate, but the computer numbers remain questionable. Beyond Florida, FSU thrashed bubble buddy Providence, but there's not a ton beyond those two games that will help. They didn't show well in big-time opportunities against Pitt and Wisconsin (before the Florida win).

Georgia Tech [18-10 (6-8), RPI: 51, SOS: 46] The Jackets beat Wake on Wednesday but couldn't get it done at UVa on Saturday, which could be a crucial loss with UNC and BC (both at home) remaining and 8-8 almost a certain need for at-large consideration. A nonconference win over Memphis helps, but the RPI and SOS are not at-large quality right now; if you combine those with a sub-.500 ACC mark, that could spell NIT for GT.

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