Flames battle Stars in Big D

Hockey Betting Lines

02/16/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Flames have been racking up points so far in February and their latest convincing victory has them within a point of a playoff spot.

Calgary puts a six-game point streak on the line this evening against the Dallas Stars.

The Flames are 4-0-2 this month and now sit second in the Northwest Division with 62 points. That still has them 16 points out of first place but only one back of eighth place Phoenix in the Western Conference standings.

Calgary rode a 41-save effort by Miikka Kiprusoff to a 5-1 win over visiting Toronto on Tuesday. The Flames goaltender notched the 302nd win of his career and is 9-3-2 in his past 14 starts.

"When you're in a dogfight like this and you're scratching and clawing for every point, it's nice to have Kipper," Flames head coach Brent Sutter said of his goaltender.

Calgary's top line of Olli Jokinen, Alex Tanguay and captain Jarome Iginla combined for seven points, with Tanguay leading the way with a goal and two assists. Jokinen scored and assisted on another to give him 13 points in his last 10 games, while Paul Byron scored on a penalty shot.

The Stars would love to swap places with the Flames. Dallas has lost three straight and 10 of its past 14 and sits three points behind Calgary in the standings.

The Stars became the latest victim of the Red Wings' record-breaking home win streak as they dropped a 3-1 decision in Detroit on Tuesday. It marked the 21st win in a row at home by the Red Wings, breaking the mark set by the 1929-30 Boston Bruins and later matched by the Philadelphia Flyers in 1975-76.

Dallas was nearly shut out on the milestone night before Adam Burish scored with 32.8 seconds left. Kari Lehtonen made 34 saves.

"Sometimes you have to tip your cap to the other guys and tonight I'm tipping my cap to Detroit," said Burish, who ended a 10-game point drought. "They're pretty darn good, but I would have liked to be the team to snap it."

The Stars and Flames are meeting for the first time this season after Calgary swept the four-game set last year. The Flames won both of their trips to Dallas in a shootout.

These clubs will play each other three more times next month, including a home-and-home set on March 24 and 26.

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Pacific-10 Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Stanford

Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.

Should be in:

Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.

Southeastern Conference odds
Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State

It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it.

Work left to do:

Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney.

Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson.

Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable.

Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile.

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