Thrashers storm past Hurricanes

Hockey Betting Lines

02/21/2007 - Raleigh, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Johan Hedberg made 33 saves to lead the Atlanta Thrashers to a 3-1 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes in a big Southeast Division battle at RBC Center.

Marian Hossa had a goal and an assist and Ilya Kovalchuk scored the game- winning goal for the Thrashers, who snapped a four-game losing streak.

Atlanta currently has 71 points and holds a two-point lead over Tampa Bay and a four-point lead over Carolina for first place in the Southeast Division.

Rod Brind'Amour scored the lone goal and Cam Ward made 20 saves in net for the Hurricanes, who have dropped two of their last three games.

The Thrashers were trailing, 1-0, in the third period, but tied the game early in the stanza while shorthanded. Hedberg lifted the puck out of his own end and Hossa chased the disc down into the left corner of the Carolina end. With Ward looking up-ice, Hossa threw a shot on net that went off the skate of Ward and into the net to make it a 1-1 game 5:53 in.

Atlanta then took its first lead of the game when Hossa picked up a turnover at his own blueline, hit Kovalchuk with a lead pass, and from the left circle Kovalchuk blew a wrist shot past Ward's glove for a 2-1 lead with 2:24 to play.

Eric Boulton then sealed the victory when he banged in a rebound from down low with 1:18 remaining for his second goal of the year.

The first period was a tight-run affair with only 10 shots making it on net, seven by Carolina, and neither side got on the scoreboard.

The Hurricanes finally snapped the scoreless contest in the second period when a turnover in the neutral zone was picked up by Ray Whitney, who took the puck into the Atlanta end, slammed on the brakes at the inside left circle and dropped the puck to Brind'Amour, who snapped a wrister into the right corner of the net for a 1-0 lead with 2:34 left in the second.

Atlanta managed six shots on net in the second period, but Ward turned them all aside.

Game Notes

Carolina hosts the Flyers on Thursday...Atlanta returns home to face Tampa Bay on Thursday...Atlanta finished a six-game road trip with a 2-4 record...Carolina winger Erik Cole was scratched from the game with a lower body injury...Atlanta had lost its first three games against Carolina this season, but has won the past two matchups, both in Carolina...Neither team scored on the power play with Carolina having four chances and Atlanta two.

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Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

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