Richards lifts Rangers over Lightning in OT
Hockey Betting Lines
02/09/2012 - New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brad Richards scored 2:37 into overtime, lifting the New York Rangers to a 4-3 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night.
Ryan Callahan, Derek Stepan and Brian Boyle also scored for the Rangers, who have won three of their last four, while Martin Biron made three of his 14 saves in the third period.
Steven Stamkos, Vincent Lecavalier and Bruno Gervais had goals for Tampa Bay, which has lost three of its last four. Mathieu Garon gave up four goals on 31 shots.
Richards scored on New York's first shot of overtime after Michael Del Zotto took the puck from a Lightning player on the right side and passed to Artem Anisimov in the slot.
Anisimov slid a pass low to Richards on the right side, who slapped the puck in as he fell to the ice.
Earlier, Boyle tied the game midway through the third period on a quick shot from the left side.
The Rangers were coming off a 1-0 loss to Martin Brodeur and the Devils on Tuesday, which ended in controversy when a potential game-tying goal with 3.5 seconds left was waived off because Marian Gaborik crashed into the net and was called for interference, although it appeared he had been pushed.
They have 73 points, leading the Atlantic Division and the Eastern Conference, but had to come back after giving up a 2-1 lead.
Stamkos scored the only goal of the first period, skating in behind two defensemen and sneaking a backhand past Biron with 64 seconds left to give the Lightning a 1-0 lead.
Callahan's power play goal on a tipped shot and Stepan's spinning shot off his own rebound in the slot made it 2-1 Rangers 5:27 into the second period. But Lecavalier scored just 21 seconds later and Gervais made it 3-2 on a power play at the 12:26 mark.
Lecavalier banked a shot in off a Rangers player who was in the crease behind Biron, and Gervais was left wide open in the slot for a wrister.
Game Notes
The Rangers have won two of their three meetings this season, but Tampa Bay is 5-2 in the last seven...New York went 2-1 on a three-game homestand and will play at Philadelphia on Saturday...Tampa Bay started a three-game road trip that wraps up with games in Buffalo and Pittsburgh on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
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Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jamie Benn opened and closed the scoring,
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Panthers earned their first win over the Los Angeles Kings in nearly 10 years
with a 3-1 victory on Thursday.
Sean Bergenheim, Mike Santorelli and Matt Bradl
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Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bryan Little scored the game-winner in a
shootout, as the Jets used a late surge to earn a 3-2 comeback win over the
Capitals on Thursday.
Trailing 2-0 with less than three minutes to play, Winnip
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Newark, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - T.J. Oshie scored the only goal in the shootout
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Indiana pulls away from Illinois >>
Bloomington, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cody Zeller dropped a game-high 22 points
to lead four Hoosiers in double figures as Indiana rolled past Illinois,
84-71, at Assembly Hall on Thursday.
Christian Watford, Victor Oladipo, and Jorda
Canucks keep Wild reeling >>
St. Paul, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Henrik Sedin played two days after taking a
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Rockets use strong bench effort to down Suns >>
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Luis Scola scored 16 points and the Rockets,
aided by a strong bench effort, downed the Suns, 96-89, on Thursday.
All five Houston bench players who entered the game reached double figures,
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Detroit shocks unbeaten Green Bay >>
Green Bay, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Green Bay hadn't lost since a setback last
February to Detroit.
On Thursday night, history repeated itself.
Shareta Brown scored 24 points and Senee Shearer added 23, as the Detroit
Titans ended
Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa
Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.
Should be in:
Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?
Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.
Work left to do:
Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.
Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.
Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.
Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.
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