Devils begin residency with visit from Senators

Hockey Betting Lines

12/19/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New Jersey Devils kick off a four-game homestand tonight as they welcome the struggling Ottawa Senators for a meeting at the Prudential Center.

The Devils ended a two-game losing streak with Wednesday's victory in Buffalo and improved to 4-1-1 in December. New Jersey, which is 9-5-1 as the host this year, and will also welcome Philadelphia, Boston and Pittsburgh on this residency.

David Clarkson netted the game-winner early in the third period as New Jersey topped Buffalo, 5-3, at HSBC Arena. Travis Zajac, Zach Parise and Brian Rolston also lit the lamp for the Devils.

Jamie Langenbrunner and Patrik Elias picked up two assists each and Scott Clemmensen made 23 saves to improve his record to 9-3-1.

Elias extended his point streak to eight games and has five goals and seven assists during the run. The veteran is second on New Jersey with 32 points (13 goals, 19 assists) this season. Parise leads the club in both goals (18) and points (35).

The Senators, meanwhile, were downed by visiting Atlanta on Tuesday and have lost four of their last five contests. Ottawa is last in the Northeast Division with just 27 points on the season.

Colby Armstrong netted a pair of goals and Ondrej Pavelec made 28 saves to help the Thrashers top Ottawa, 4-1, at Scotiabank Place.

Martin Gerber, coming off a shutout, was beaten three times on 24 shots, and Chris Kelly registered the only Senators goal.

Beginning with tonight's test the Senators are playing nine of their next 10 games on the road. Ottawa, which is just 3-7-2 as the visiting team, will host Dallas on Saturday before embarking on an eight-game road trip that begins Tuesday in Philadelphia.

New Jersey has won two straight and five of the last seven meetings with the Senators and Ottawa has dropped three of four and five of seven on the road in the series. This is the first of four meetings between the clubs this year.

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MySportsbook.com favors Bears, Bengals, Chargers and Colts to remain perfect

LAS VEGAS , Sept. 28 - Two big match-ups of undefeated teams have fans salivating at the Week Four schedule in the NFL. The Chicago Bears stifling defense looks to provide a less than hospitable welcome to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday night in a battle of two 3-0 teams in the NFC conference. In the AFC, the San Diego Chargers (2-0) head to Maryland to face the surprising Baltimore Ravens (3-0) as both try to keep pace atop the conference standings. Betting Lines makers at MySportsbook.com, online sportsbook and casino, have set the Bears as 3.5 point favorites while the Chargers are a 2.5 point bet.

Of the three remaining undefeated teams, only one, New Orleans, enters this week's game as an underdog. Despite an emotional and resounding win over Atlanta on Monday night, the Saints are a 7.5 point underdog against the struggling Carolina Panthers. Indianapolis looks to stay perfect when they face the New York Jets as a 9 point road favorite while the Cincinnati Bengals are a 6 point favorite at home to the New England Patriots.

Six teams enter the week still looking for their first win, with a seventh, Tampa Bay, on a bye week. The prospect of dropping another game would not bode well for a potential playoff run. Since 1990, just three teams -- the 1992 Chargers, 1995 Detroit Lions and 1998 Buffalo Bills -- have overcome losing their first three games of the season to earn a postseason berth. And only the Chargers managed to accomplish the feat after starting 0-4.

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Big East Conference odds

Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence

Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.

Work left to do:

Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.

Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.

DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...

West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.

Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.

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