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03/22/2009 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The top two teams in the Eastern Conference will clash today in Beantown, as the Boston Bruins welcome the New Jersey Devils for a showdown at TD Banknorth Garden.
The Bruins leads the Northeast Division as well as the conference with 100 points, while New Jersey is tops in the Atlantic and second in the East with 97 points. Washington is just one point behind the Devils in the third slot.
Boston also became the first team in the East to clinch a playoff berth thanks to Florida's loss to Columbus on Saturday.
New Jersey has taken two of the three encounters with the Bruins this year and can win the season series for the third time in four campaigns with another victory today. The Devils have taken six of eight and 11 of the last 15 overall meetings with the Bruins and have come out on top in two of their last three stops at the Garden.
Despite its standing as the top team in the East, Boston has struggled since the early stages of February and is just 6-9-4 in its last 19 contests. The Bruins come into today's test having lost two straight, four of six and seven of their last 10 games.
Boston last played on Thursday when it was able to salvage a point in an overtime setback to visiting Los Angeles. Dustin Brown scored with 35 ticks remaining in OT as the Kings rallied for three goals in the final 15 minutes to take a 3-2 decision at TD Banknorth Garden.
Mark Recchi and Matt Hunwick got the goals for Boston. Tim Thomas blanked the Kings for nearly 50 minutes before wilting under LA's 38-shot barrage in the loss.
The Bruins are 24-6-6 as the host this year and are capping a brief two-game homestand today. Boston won't play again until Saturday's contest in Toronto.
Meanwhile, the Devils have played very well recently, winning five of six and nine of their last 11 games. New Jersey had a four-game winning streak halted by Wednesday's setback at Carolina, but the club rebounded with Friday's easy home win over Minnesota.
Martin Brodeur turned aside all 35 shots he faced to notch the 101st shutout of his legendary career, as the Devils breezed past the Wild, 4-0, at Prudential Center. Brodeur is now just two shy of the great Terry Sawchuk for the league's all-time record for shutouts.
Brodeur notched the 552nd win of his career on Tuesday against Chicago to pass Hall-of-Famer Patrick Roy for first on the all-time list. Brodeur was given a rare night off Wednesday when New Jersey lost at Carolina.
Patrik Elias scored twice for the Devils, who have won a club-record 11 straight games on home ice.
Elias has four goals and four assists during a five-game point streak, while Zach Parise, who had two assists in Friday's win, has recorded a point in seven straight contests. Parise has three goals and seven helpers during his point streak.
Today's tilt marks the first of three straight on the road for New Jersey, which will also visit Philadelphia and Chicago during the swing. The Devils have an excellent 21-11-2 record as the guest this year, but have lost four of their last seven road games.
<< Surging clubs meet as Rangers host Sens at MSG
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of hot teams will meet tonight in the Big Apple, as
the New York Rangers welcome the Ottawa Senators for an Eastern Conference
battle at Madison Square Garden.
The Senators have won four straight and eight of their
<< Sharks eye West's top seed in home test against Avalanche
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Having already clinched the Pacific Division title, the San
Jose Sharks can regain the top seed in the Western Conference when they host
the lowly Colorado Avalanche tonight at HP Pavilion.
The Sharks have 104 points on th
<< Ducks take aim at third straight win in home test vs. Coyotes
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Anaheim Ducks will shoot for their first three-game
winning streak in nearly four months when they welcome the Phoenix Coyotes for
today's clash at the Honda Center.
The Ducks last won three in a row during a four-game
<< Oilers visit Wild with shot at fourth straight victory
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Edmonton Oilers will try for their first four-game
winning streak since the early stages of the season when they visit the
struggling Minnesota Wild for today's Northwest Division battle at Xcel Energy
Center.
The Oil
Blackhawks activate RW Sharp >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Blackhawks have activated right
wing Patrick Sharp off injured reserve.
Sharp had missed Chicago's last 16 games with a lower body injury. He was hurt
in a February 14 game against San Jose a
Naylor saves draw for Celtic >>
Dundee, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Celtic failed to take hold of the Scottish
Premier League as the Hoops needed an 80th-minute goal from Lee Naylor to
salvage a 2-2 draw with Dundee United at Tannadice Park on Sunday.
Celtic could ha
Goya, 20, gets first European Tour win >>
Porto Santo, Portugal (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Estanislao Goya held off Callum
Macaulay to win the Madeira Islands Open on Sunday, closing with a two-over 73
in the final round to claim his first European Tour victory.
Goya, a 20-year-old
Liverpool moves to within one point of United >>
Liverpool, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Steven Gerrard scored three times to
lead Liverpool to a resounding 5-0 win over Aston Villa at Anfield on Sunday,
reducing Manchester United's lead over the Reds to just one point.
United still has
NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking.
No. 1 always seems to fit USC.
Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent.
Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory.
Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3.
"We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team."
Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time.
"Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team."
The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.
"I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won."
Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State.
"There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?"
USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll.
"It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter."
While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls.
As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule.
But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference.
Get the latest 2009 BCS Championship odds at MySportsbook.com.
The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road.
The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second.
The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia.
No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday.
Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.
Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina.
Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson.
The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996.
South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20.
The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24.
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