Bruins take on Thrashers with shot at 8th straight win

Hockey Betting Lines

12/28/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The powerful Boston Bruins will try to match their longest winning streak in over 15 years when they visit the Atlanta Thrashers for this evening's battle at Philips Arena.

The Bruins have won seven in a row and another victory today would give the club its longest winning streak since rattling off eight straight victories from March 30-April 14, 1993.

Boston, which leads the Northeast Division and Eastern Conference with 56 points, has also won 12 of its last 13 games.

The Bruins earned their seventh consecutive win Saturday in Carolina as Michael Ryder scored the go-ahead goal with 6:14 left in the third period to lift Boston past the Hurricanes, 4-2.

Blake Wheeler notched a pair of goals, and Chuck Kobasew added an empty-net marker for Boston. David Krejci posted an assist to extend his point streak to seven games.

Tim Thomas stopped 29 shots to get the win for Boston, which hasn't lost since December 10 at Washington and is 21-2-1 in its last 24 games.

This is the fourth stop on a five-game road trip for the Bruins, who are 13-4-3 away from Beantown this year and have taken four straight and six of seven on the road. Boston closes out the swing Tuesday night in Pittsburgh.

Meanwhile, the Thrashers are 3-3-0 over their last six games and have alternated wins and losses during that stretch. Atlanta was recently handed a loss Friday evening against the visiting Hurricanes. Eric Staal's third-period hat trick helped Carolina overtake the Thrashers, 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.

Little registered his first career three-goal game for the Thrashers, who have dropped six of their last nine contests.

Todd White had a goal and an assist, while Slava Kozlov recorded four helpers. White tied his career-high point streak at eight games (five goals, six assists).

Johan Hedberg was beaten five times on 39 shots in defeat and is 1-3-1 in his last five contests.

The Thrashers are 6-10-2 as the host this year and have lost two straight and nine of their last 10 on home ice. Atlanta will close out the 2008 calendar year with a pair of road tests, as it visits Toronto on Tuesday before visiting Carolina on New Year's Eve.

Boston is 3-0 against the Thrashers this year and the teams are closing out the season series tonight. The Bruins have won five straight and six of the last seven meetings between the clubs and they have also taken two of three in Atlanta.

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A two-time Pro Bowler, Green was going into a feet-first hook slide when he was knocked unconscious by a thunderous, head-snapping hit from Cincinnati's Robert Geathers.

Oddsmakers at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com currently have the Chiefs listed as 7-point favorites versus the 49ers.

The 49ers got beat by Philadelphia 38-24 as a 6.5-point underdog last week. The combined score went OVER the posted over/under total (42.5).

Alex Smith completed 27-of-46 passes for 293 yards with a touchdown. Michael Robinson rushed for 29 yards and a pair of touchdowns on five carries.

The Chiefs lost 9-6 to Denver last week as an 11-point underdog. The combined score was well UNDER the posted over/under total (38).

Larry Johnson rushed for 126 yards on 27 carries. Damon Huard completed 17-of-23 passes for 133 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions.

To visit this online sports book got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.

Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.