Blake, Islanders drop Canadiens

Hockey Betting Lines

02/24/2007 - Uniondale, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jason Blake scored the go-ahead goal and Frans Nielsen had a goal and an assist for his first NHL points to lead the New York Islanders over the Montreal Canadiens, 3-2, at Nassau Coliseum.

Richard Park added two assists and Rick DiPietro made 20 saves for New York, which has picked up 24 points in its last 16 games (10-2-4) to move into the playoff picture in the Eastern Conference.

The Islanders moved into a tie with the Canadiens for the final two playoff spots with 70 points. New York, though, holds the current tiebreaker with two games at hand, thus leaving the Isles in the playoff picture heading into Sunday. Carolina is one point behind both teams and plays at Atlanta later on Saturday night.

Sheldon Souray and Chris Higgins each scored for the Canadiens, who had a three-game win streak halted. Saku Koivu had two assists and Jaroslav Halak made 28 saves for Montreal, which fell behind late in the first period and never caught up.

With the game tied at 1-1, Blake put the Islanders ahead for good late in the first period. Blake broke into the offensive zone along the right-side boards with the puck. He darted towards the crease and just before cutting behind the net, he backhanded the puck low past Halak for a 2-1 lead with 4:02 remaining until the intermission.

The Isles then grabbed a two-goal lead heading into the third period thanks to Nielsen's tally with 9:08 left. After gathering the rebound of a Park shot between the circles, Nielsen faked a shot to get Halak to the ice and then skated to the left slot and easily wristed the puck into an open net.

Montreal made it interesting with a third-period goal when Higgins' turnaround wrister found its way between the legs of DiPietro just 3:50 into the period.

However, the Isles survived the final 16-plus minutes to play themselves into playoff position.

Jeff Tambellini started the game's scoring when he put home a rebound of a Nielsen shot just 2:43 into action.

Souray then tied the contest just over 11 minutes later when his slap per from the top of the right circle found its way past DiPietro. The goal came on the power play.

Game Notes

Blake set a career-high in goals in the season with 29...DiPietro improved to 6-2-2 in his last 10 games...The Isles went 0-for-3 on the power play, while Montreal went 1-for-3...The loss for Halak is his first in four games since making his debut on February 18.

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Mens NCAA Basketball Tournament odds  
As of February 9, MySportsbook.com has released its coveted 2007 Mens NCAA Basketball Tournament betting odds. “March Madness betting ” only a month away, the top ranked Florida Gators are favorite at 7-2 to win it all. The defending champs have not disappointed at all this season and currently have a 22-2 record and are undefeated (9-0) in SEC play. The Gators’ thrive off of their extremely balanced, experienced and versatile attack. All five starters started in last seasons National Championship game. What is most impressive with this group is their balance; the five starters all average between 10.7 and 13.6 PPG. The Gators have been on an absolute roll having won 15 straight by an average of 16.4 PPG.

Right behind the Gators are the 5th ranked UNC Tar Heels at 9-2. The Heels (21-3, 7-2) are absolutely loaded with top notch talent and are as deep as any team in the country. A concern for the Tar Heels might be inexperience. Of their top four scorers/ minute earners, three are freshmen and the other is a sophomore. The rest of the regular season, the Tar Heels play only one team that is currently ranked (Duke). Their remaining opponents do combine for an impressive 107-58 record though.

Other teams that the MySportsbook.com members seem to believe will win it all include the west coasts’ top team #2 UCLA (6-1), #3 OSU behind man-child Greg Oden (8-1), and #4 Wisconsin (10-1) behind their defense which has given up 70+ points only three times all season.

Below is a list of some of the favorites to win the 2007 Men’s NCAA Basketball Championship lines. For the full list of teams and March Madness odds be sure to log onto MySportsbook.com. If you want to use your credit card to bet on college hoops or any other event, MySportsbook.com has the highest credit card acceptance rate in the industry.

Arizona 20-1

Butler 20-1

Duke 30-1

Florida 7-2

Georgetown 30-1

Indiana 35-1

Kansas 15-1

Marquette 25-1

Maryland 40-1

Memphis 50-1

Nevada 50-1

UNC 9-2

OSU 8-1

Oregon 30-1

Pittsburgh 15-1

Texas 30-1

Texas A&M 18-1

UCLA 6-1

Wisconsin 10-1

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook betting needs.