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12/24/2011 - Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Matt Duchene scored the game winner in overtime to lift the Colorado Avalanche over the Tampa Bay Lightning, 2-1, at Pepsi Center.
Ryan O'Reilly netted the other goal for the Avalanche, who won at home for the eighth straight time to set the franchise's longest win streak since the team moved from Quebec City to Denver.
"We were aware of the streak, coach told us about it before the game," Duchene said. "We're very appreciative, accounting for all the great teams that have been here before."
Jean-Sebastien Giguere made 29 saves, including four in the extra period, for the win, Colorado's fifth in six games with all six contests being decided by one goal.
Pavel Kubina tallied the lone goal for the Lightning while Mathieu Garon stopped 27 shots in Tampa Bay's fourth loss in six games.
The game-deciding goal came 3:38 into overtime after Duchene picked up a drop pass at the blue line and cruised down the left side of the offensive zone. As Duchene reached the corner, he threw the puck towards the net, where Garon had his legs spread a little too far apart and the puck caromed off his left foot and through his legs.
"He shot it off my pad about six inches from the post. I thought I had it," said Garon. "We're lucky to get the point tonight."
Tampa Bay struck first with just 1:51 left in the opening period when Kubina received a pass at the top of the right circle and swept a shot towards the net that snuck through the pads of Giguere.
But Colorado netted the equalizer at the midpoint of the second period with a Shane O'Brien shot from the right point that Garon thought he had in his equipment, but O'Reilly was there to grab the loose puck and backhand it into the net.
The Avalanche seemed to have scored the game winner with 47.9 seconds left in regulation, but the whistle had been blown by the referee before the puck crossed the line as Kubina was on the ground because of a high stick.
No penalty was called on the play, though, despite blood trickling down the right eye of Kubina, denying Tampa Bay a possible four-minute power play.
Game Notes
Colorado's franchise record for consecutive home wins is 10 by the Quebec Nordiques in 1983-84 and 1994-95...O'Brien's assist stretched his points streak to a career-high four straight games (0G, 4A)...Colorado closed out a four-game homestand with a 4-0 record, improving to 12-9-0 as the host this season...Tampa Bay fell to 6-12-3 on the road this year.
<< Pens top Jets for 3rd straight win
Winnipeg, MB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Marc-Andre Fleury needed to make just 18 stops
to lead the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 4-1 win over the Winnipeg Jets at MTS
Centre.
Pascal Dupuis, Jordan Staal, James Neal and Joe Vitale scored for
<< Sharapova pulls out of Brisbane event
Brisbane, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Maria Sharapova has pulled out of the
Brisbane International due to a recurring ankle injury.
The event, one of the first on tennis' schedule for 2012, is set to start
January 1.
"I was reall
<< Purdue extends Hope through 2016
West Lafayette, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Purdue and head football coach Danny
Hope agreed on a two-year contract extension through the 2016 season.
Hope has led the Boilermakers to a 6-6 record this season, his third year at
the helm. Pu
<< Ruutu nets OT winner as Hurricanes nip Senators
Raleigh, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tuomo Ruutu scored an overtime goal 1:36 in,
pushing the Carolina Hurricanes past the Ottawa Senators, 2-1, on Friday.
Andreas Nodl also scored, while Cam Ward made 22 saves for the Hurricanes, who
halted a
Blues hang on to slip past Phoenix >>
Glendale, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jason Arnott's goal early in the third period
proved to be the game-winner, as the Blues edged the Phoenix Coyotes, 3-2, for
their sixth victory in eight contests.
Matt D'Agostini and Alex Steen also scored
Clowe nets SO winner as Sharks top Kings >>
San Jose, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ryane Clowe scored in the fourth round of the
shootout to lift the San Jose Sharks over the Los Angeles Kings, 2-1, at HP
Pavilion.
Clowe started down the right side of the ice and faked a shot before cu
Irving earns first win as Flames top Canucks >>
Vancouver, BC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Leland Irving stopped 29 shots for his first
career win as the Calgary Flames took a 3-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks
at Rogers Arena.
Curtis Glencross had a goal and an assist while Mikael Backlun
Thomas' basket caps Hawaii's upset of No. 14 Xavier >>
Honolulu, HI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Joston Thomas rolled a shot around the rim and
watched it drop in the final second of overtime to cap Hawaii's frenetic,
84-82, comeback victory over No. 14 Xavier in the consolation bracket of the
Diamond
My fellow Americans, as tempting as it may be to don the coat and HD-ready tie in order to deliver this State of the Game address before the cameras, I know better. As Brad Paisley sings on his latest album, "I'm so much cooler online."
The ideas for this annual essay to kick off the MySportsbook.com college football betting preview flowed like frat-house beer, which is to say they were cheap and spilled all over the floor. The 2007 season will be better than 2007, if only because there will be more of it. A year ago, the NCAA Football Rules Committee made two rule changes in the interest of speeding up the game. These changes went over like Kobe burgers at a vegan banquet.
To its credit, the rules committee rectified its mistakes. This season the clock once again will start when a kickoff is received, rather than when it is kicked, and the clock will not start so quickly on a change of possession.
However, kickoffs have been moved back five yards, to the 30, which will force more returns. (Thus forcing the clock to run. Clever, huh?) Special teams might decide a lot of games, because coaching strategy will come straight out of another new Paisley lyric (almost), I'd like to check you for kicks.
Paisley sings with a twang, which is why he's appropriate for this college football season. The sun coming up over the 2007 college football betting lines season rises from the south. It's a Southern football world. As the Southeastern Conference begins its 75th year, the power shift is noticeable.
Eight-figure budgets, glamorous settings -- and that's just for the head coaches. The SEC has four coaches who have won national championships -- the greatest aggregation of coaching know-how since Eddie Robinson dined alone.
Steve Spurrier, Phil Fulmer, Nick Saban and Urban Meyer have given lie to the idea that a conference championship game is too daunting a hurdle on the road to No. 1. In six of the past 10 seasons, the national champions played and won a conference championship game -- three of the six (Tennessee, 1998; LSU, 2003; Florida, 2007) from the SEC.
There will be more of the same this season, if the preseason prognostications are correct. Six SEC teams are in the preseason coaches' poll, more than from any other conference. Only one conference has talent so deep that a team with 15 returning starters, including the best quarterback in the league, from an eight-win season is considered an afterthought. That may speak more to Kentucky's losing legacy than to the wisdom of the predictions, but there you have it. And seriously, keep an eye on Wildcats QB Andre' Woodson.
The reach of the South extends all the way to No. 1. Take a look at the team that is a consensus pick to win the national championship. The quarterback is from Shreveport. The best wide receiver is from Nashville. The top recruit is from New Orleans.
So what's the campus doing in Los Angeles? Hey, it is the University of Southern California.
USC lost two Pacific-10 Conference games a year ago, the first time that had happened in five seasons, and university officials withstood the urge to form blue-ribbon panels to unearth the cause of such a disaster. Instead, the Trojans gathered themselves and routed Michigan, 32-18, in the Rose Bowl.
USC's losses at Oregon State and at UCLA last year should have given pause to those who question the Pac-10's football prowess (such as, without naming names, L.M. from Baton Rouge). The league only got deeper this season; Dennis Erickson is taking over an Arizona State team that never quite got out of its own way under his predecessor, Dirk Koetter.
Erickson will resume his quest to become the first coach to win a national championship at two schools. Both he and Spurrier, now in his third season at South Carolina, returned to college football at schools with lower profiles than where they won their titles.
That isn't the case for the third coach looking for the national championship double. You may have missed this, but NASA reported the astronauts on the space shuttle last spring made contact with what can only be described as beings from another galaxy.
The leader of the aliens said, "We come in peace," followed by, "So how do you think Nick Saban will do at Alabama?"
The public is reacting to the new Crimson Tide coach as if he is the Barry Bonds of college football -- beloved at home for what his fans believe he is going to do, hated on the road for his intimidating attitude and for what his detractors believe he did (bend NCAA recruiting rules). I made this comparison from the dais at a charity dinner in Mobile, Ala., last month, and the chill that washed over me didn't come from the air conditioning.
Saban will attempt to prove that he can remake in Tuscaloosa what he built in Baton Rouge, much like another member of the national championship fraternity. Bobby Bowden is attempting to remake at Florida State what he built at, um, Florida State. Bowden rebuilt his offensive staff, bringing in four new coaches led by Saban's former offensive coordinator, Jimbo Fisher, to jump-start an offense that has been dead for a couple of years.
The Atlantic Coast Conference is expected to show new signs of life, too. That is said with no disrespect toward last season's champion, Wake Forest, which provided one of the best story lines of 2007. The Demon Deacons begin this season in their customary position, overshadowed by the Virginia Techs, Miamis and Florida States.
It's not that Wake will find it difficult to duplicate its success in 2007 as much as the feeling that success engendered. Surprising success is the narcotic of sport. It never feels quite so euphoric the next time. Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese has figured this out. He refers to 2007, when a league looked down upon by fans and foes alike took three undefeated teams into November, as "Cinderella."
The fairy tale may be over, but the Big East has four genuine Heisman Trophy candidates in Louisville quarterback Brian Brohm, West Virginia tailback Steve Slaton and quarterback Pat White, and Rutgers tailback Ray Rice. Rutgers, as did Wake Forest and, of course, Boise State, proved last season that the have-nots in college football occasionally have quite a lot.
The Broncos' rousing 43-42 overtime victory over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl has raised the profile of all schools in conferences that don't get automatic BCS bids. This season, TCU and Hawaii are the preseason favorites to burst through the BCS doors and earn an at-large bid. The Warriors return 14 starters from an 11-3 team, including quarterback Colt Brennan.
Brennan not only broke the single-season record with 58 touchdown passes in 2007, but he also led Division I-A in passing efficiency (186.0). The senior is expected to contend for the Heisman Trophy, and neither his success nor the rise of his team should come as any surprise in the 2007 season.
After all, Hawaii is the southernmost team in the country.
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