Sizzling Bruins host Red Wings in showdown at the Garden

Hockey Betting Lines

11/29/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Bruins will try to close out an excellent month with yet another victory, as they host the Detroit Red Wings in this evening's showdown at TD Banknorth Garden.

The Bruins are 10-1-1 in November and are coming off a blowout victory in Friday afternoon's home tilt against the New York Islanders. Boston's hot play has the club atop the Northeast Division with 34 points.

On Friday, Blake Wheeler and David Krejci scored 10 seconds apart to jump-start Boston's five-goal third period, as the Bruins captured their eighth straight home win with a 7-2 triumph over the Islanders.

Michael Ryder finished with a pair of goals for Boston, while Phil Kessel and Dennis Wideman each chipped in a goal and an assist in the victory. The Bruins bounced back from Wednesday's 3-2 loss at Buffalo, which handed Boston its first regulation loss in November.

Chuck Kobasew added a goal and Manny Fernandez made 22 saves to win his fifth straight start for Boston, which is 8-1-1 at home this season. Marc Savard and Matt Hunwick each notched a pair of assists for the Bruins.

Kessel comes into tonight's test on an eight-game point streak, while Hunwick has recorded a point in his last six tests.

Tim Thomas, the NHL's leader in goals against average (1.88) and save percentage (.940), will likely be back in goal for the Bruins tonight.

Boston is aiming for its ninth straight home win tonight as it tries to extend the club's longest home winning streak since taking 11 in a row on friendly ice from December 5, 1982 to January 29, 1983.

Meanwhile, the Red Wings ended a two-game skid their last time out, posting Friday's 5-3 win over visiting Columbus. Marian Hossa's second goal of the game came with two minutes left to lead Detroit the victory at Joe Louis Arena.

With time winding down in the third period, Detroit took a 4-3 lead. A left circle faceoff draw was won by Pavel Datsyuk. The puck went to the right side where Hossa poked it forward, then kicked the puck from his skate to his stick and swept a shot from the low left side past Pascal Leclaire with two minutes left.

From there the Red Wings held off the Blue Jackets and Kris Draper's empty- netter sealed the victory.

Henrik Zetterberg had a goal and an assist while Jiri Hudler also lit the lamp for the Red Wings, who have won six of eight and are 8-1-2 in November.

Chris Osgood made 13 stops and gave up a goal on a slap shot from mid-ice. However, he made enough saves to record the 372nd win of his career and tie Andy Moog for 13th on the league's all-time list.

Detroit has an excellent 10-1-2 record as the visiting team this year, but had a four-game road winning streak halted in Monday's overtime loss at Vancouver.

On the injury front, Red Wings forward Tomas Holmstrom is expected to miss his sixth straight game with a sore back. The 35-year-old Swede has seven goals and six assists in 17 games this season.

The Bruins have won four of the last six meetings with the Red Wings, but Detroit has won three of four and eight of 11 in Boston.

This is the only meeting of the season between these Original Six franchises.

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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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