Caps hope to get season on track vs. streaking Sens

Hockey Betting Lines

02/22/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With just one victory in their last six games, the Washington Capitals are desperate to get their postseason push back on track.

The Caps hope they can bounce back tonight at Ottawa's Scotiabank Place, where they'll try to complete a season sweep of a Senators team that has been red- hot of late.

Washington is 3-0 against the Senators this year and tonight's meeting is the final scheduled encounter of the regular season. All told, the Capitals have claimed six of the last seven matchups in this series overall and two of the last three in Canada's capital city.

However, while the Caps are 1-4-1 in their last six games, Ottawa enters tonight riding a three-game winning streak. The Senators have outscored the opposition by an amazing 16-2 margin over the last three games and Ottawa has also posted a point in five straight tests (4-0-1) since a seven-game slide from Jan. 21-Feb. 7.

This evening's game is also an important battle in the Eastern Conference playoff race. Ottawa is currently seventh in the conference and five points ahead of Toronto and Winnipeg. Washington is just outside the postseason picture, as it trails the Maple Leafs and Jets by two points.

The Senators last played on Monday afternoon at Nassau Coliseum, where they dismantled the hosting New York Islanders by a 6-0 score. Erik Karlsson totaled four points on two goals and two assists as Ottawa chased Islanders goaltender Kevin Poulin before the game was two minutes old. Poulin was yanked after allowing scores 27 seconds apart to Karlsson and Jason Spezza in the first 1:35 of action.

Spezza finished with two goals and is now leading Ottawa in both goals (27) and points (65) this season. The centerman has been on an absolute tear of late, notching seven goals and eight assists during a six-game point streak.

"We got two days rest. Not many teams get that this time of year," Spezza said after Monday's rout. "And there's a benefit to playing games early on, because we can get some energy to move forward."

Brian Lee and Chris Phillips added scores for Ottawa, which had 11 players record a point in the blowout. Craig Anderson stopped 28 shots to notch his third shutout of the season for the Senators.

Ottawa's current winning streak came in the form of a perfect 3-0 road trip, but the team will kick off a three-game homestand tonight. The Sens have lost five of their last six tests at Scotiabank Place and are 15-11-3 as the host this year compared to a 16-11-5 mark on the road.

Meanwhile, road play has been a trouble spot for Washington all season long and the club will be happy to complete a four-game road trip tonight. The Caps are 1-2 on the swing, dropping them to 10-17-3 on the road compared to a 19-8-2 home record.

Washington was dealt a lopsided loss by the last-place Carolina Hurricanes on Monday night, as Eric Staal had two goals and an assist and Justin Peters earned his first career NHL shutout in the 5-0 rout at RBC Center. Caps goaltender Tomas Vokoun lasted just over five minutes, as he was pulled at 5:09 of the first period after goals by Justin Faulk and Anthony Stewart.

Vokoun gave up two goals on seven shots and was replaced by Michal Neuvirth, who made 30 saves on 33 shots the rest of the way. The setback dropped the Capitals to 4-7-3 in their last 14 outings.

"Normally you can try to take some positives out of a game. Tonight, nothing," said the Caps' Troy Brouwer. "You can't wipe it clean because you have to take it in and make sure you know what you're doing wrong, make sure you know what you did wrong. We're going to watch a lot of video, I hope."

Washington's Alex Ovechkin is expected to play tonight despite missing practice on Tuesday for what head coach Dale Hunter called a "maintenance day." The star winger didn't play in the final six minutes of the second period on Monday and although he did return in the third, Ovechkin was seen limping around after the game. Both Ovechkin and Hunter have said that the Russian superstar was not hurt and was instead bothered by an equipment problem.

Ovechkin has just one goal and one assist over his last five games. With 24 goals and 21 assists through 56 games this season, the 26-year-old is on pace for the lowest point total of his seven-year NHL career.

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Numerous College Basketball teams take final big step to March Madness betting

So, what turned on the lock spigot? Well, after what felt like weeks of teams treading water and slipping back into the bubble muck, a bunch of them finally decided to say "to heck with parity" and won games that should put them into the Big Dance.

Disagree with some of these? Then here's the challenge. Take all of the "should be ins" and make a legit case that each should be ahead of the team that's a lock. Then find 10 more teams that also should be placed in the bracket ahead of that lock team. Not so easy, is it?

If you want more evidence that these locks should be good to go, check out what our research department dug up. Since the NCAA Tournament went to 64 teams in 1985, only six teams from a "big six" conference have had a record of 10-6 or better in conference play and not been selected: Colorado (2004) and Nebraska (1999) from the Big 12, Boston College and Seton Hall (both 2003) from the Big East, Indiana (2005) from the Big Ten and UCLA, which somehow went 12-6 in the Pac-10 in 1988 and still missed out. (Note: Five teams went 11-7 and didn't get in, the latest being last season's Stanford team, which had a brutal nonconference run.)

Yes, 10 conference wins doesn't always mean what it used to because of unbalanced schedules, but this season, it should be plenty good in all but the extreme cases (see: Iowa).

In a way, this is a welcome development, because this is a bubble watch, not a lock watch. We can finally be done with teams like Maryland and Virginia Tech and start really bearing down on at-large battles such as Syracuse-West Virginia and Appalachian State-Georgia Tech.

Interestingly, all the shifting of teams into lock status appears to be more administrative than impactful. The number of remaining available at-larges didn't change one iota. The only difference is that teams on the bubble now have a clearer idea of which team(s) they are competing with for those precious bids.

The Bubble Breakdown
CONFERENCE LOCKS SHOULD BE INS AT-LARGES TAKEN
(assuming no auto bid outlier)
ACC Betting Odds 6 0 5
Big East Betting Odds 5 0 4
Big Ten Betting Odds 2 2 3
Big 12 Betting Odds 3 0 2
Pac-10 Betting Odds 5 1 5
SEC Betting Odds 4 0 3
MVC Betting Odds 1 1 1
MWC Betting Odds 2 1 2
TOTAL 28 5 25

As always, I've tried to be as inclusive as possible while only including teams that would have a reasonable chance of at least being discussed if this were Selection Sunday. If your team's not on here, there's probably a good reason (or three) -- start with the RPI and SOS numbers and work your way down.

(Please remember, per selection committee criteria, that records displayed are Division I only. Next update: Feb. 28)

If you have a legitimate grievance, or just like talking bubble, send an e-mail. Polite ones with fact-based arguments have a much better chance of receiving a response. I apologize in advance if I can't get back to all of you.

Atlantic Coast Conference

Work left to do: Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech

The ACC moves to six locks as BC, Va Tech and Virginia all got their 10th ACC wins, which should be more than enough this season, and Maryland rallied past North Carolina to get the final piece the Terps needed. After that? It could end there unless FSU, Ga Tech or Clemson picks things up in a hurry.

 

Work left to do:

Clemson [19-9 (5-9), RPI: 41, SOS: 42] The Tigers are closer to locking up the collapse of the year award (in a good battle with OK State) than they are to grabbing an at-large. Clemson's been very competitive, but there's no really positive way you can spin nine losses in 11 games. They now cannot get to .500 in ACC play and still must head to Virginia Tech in the season finale (after hosting Miami). Unless the Tigers win both and/or do some serious work in the ACC tourney, they very well could be left out. There are no great nonconference wins, but ODU, App State, Miss. State, South Carolina and Georgia are all respectable W's.

Florida State [18-11 (6-9), RPI: 48, SOS: 14] The Noles got thrashed at Maryland to run their losing streak to five, but then pounded NC State at home to set the table for what likely is an elimination game at Miami. You can at least make a case for the Seminoles at 7-9 in ACC play (and some work in the ACC tourney), but 6-10 is not going to cut it. Wins at Duke and over Florida will resonate, but the computer numbers remain questionable. Beyond Florida, FSU thrashed bubble buddy Providence, but there's not a ton beyond those two games that will help. They didn't show well in big-time opportunities against Pitt and Wisconsin (before the Florida win).

Georgia Tech [18-10 (6-8), RPI: 51, SOS: 46] The Jackets beat Wake on Wednesday but couldn't get it done at UVa on Saturday, which could be a crucial loss with UNC and BC (both at home) remaining and 8-8 almost a certain need for at-large consideration. A nonconference win over Memphis helps, but the RPI and SOS are not at-large quality right now; if you combine those with a sub-.500 ACC mark, that could spell NIT for GT.

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