Kaleta scores in OT to help Sabres snap road skid

Hockey Betting Lines

03/07/2010 - New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Patrick Kaleta scored the game-winner 2:22 into overtime, as the Buffalo Sabres edged the New York Rangers, 2-1, at Madison Square Garden.

With the overtime period halfway over, Kaleta charged down the right side of the ice and fired a shot on net. Kaleta collected the rebound behind the net and was able to jam the disc past Henrik Lundqvist, who had his pads stacked against the post.

Adam Mair scored in regulation for the Sabres, who snapped an eight-game road skid. Ryan Miller made 35 saves for Buffalo, which won away from home for the first time since January 18.

Brandon Dubinsky lit the lamp for the Rangers, who have dropped three in a row following a three-game win streak.

The goaltenders dominated the first two periods of play. Miller stopped 16 and six shots in the first and second frames, respectively, while Lundqvist made 12 and nine saves over the first two stanzas.

Buffalo got on the board at the 14:03 mark of the third. Derek Roy slid a pass from behind the net to Mair, whose snap shot beat Lundqvist.

A Jochen Hecht slashing penalty put the Rangers on the power play a few minutes later. Dubinsky capitalized for New York by chipping in a rebound off a Michael Del Zotto shot with 1:23 left to deadlock the game.

Neither team scored the rest of the way to send the tilt into overtime.

Game Notes

The Sabres lead the season series with the Rangers, 2-1...Buffalo's eight-game road skid matched the longest road losing streak in the franchise's 39 seasons of existence, an 0-5-3 stretch during the 2007-08 campaign.

Sportt Hockey Betting News

<< Leighton strong in Flyers' win over Leafs
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Michael Leighton made 27 saves to help the Philadelphia Flyers take a 3-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs at Wachovia Center. Danny Briere, Simon Gagne and Jeff Carter each had a goal for the Flyers,

<< West Virginia advances to Big East semis with win over DePaul
Hartford, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Liz Repella had 16 points to help seventh- ranked West Virginia to a 47-41 win over DePaul in the Big East quarterfinals. Sarah Miles had nine points and five assists while Asya Bussie added nine poin

<< Pistons rally vs. Rockets, snap six-game skid with OT win
Auburn Hills, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tayshaun Price provided a season-high 29 points and 10 rebounds and spearheaded a late comeback in regulation, and the Detroit Pistons edged the Houston Rockets in overtime, 110-107, at the Palace at Aubu

<< Field and Eskendereya top second Kentucky Derby Future Wager
Louisville, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The mutuel field and Fountain of Youth champ Eskendereya came up as the top two selections at the close of betting of the second Kentucky Derby Future Wager of 2010. The third and final Future Wager takes p

<< Legace, Hurricanes blank Thrashers
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Manny Legace stopped 27 shots to pick up his first shutout of the season, as the Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Atlanta Thrashers, 4-0, in a Southeast Division showdown at Philips Arena. Jussi Jokinen h

Canadiens-Ducks Sum >>
Montreal 0 1 2 0-4Anaheim 3 0 0 0-3Montreal won shootout 2-1First Period-1, Anaheim, Perry 23 (Getzlaf, Ward), 8:54. 2, Anaheim, Visnovsky 11, 12:54 (pp). 3, Anaheim, Niedermayer 8 (Getzlaf, Wisniewski), 19:07.Second Period-4, Montreal, Pleka

Wizards-Celtics, Box >>
WASHINGTON (83)Thornton 10-17 3-5 24, Blatche 10-20 3-3 23, McGee 2-3 9-10 13, Foye 3-14 3-3 9, Miller 3-7 2-3 8, Singleton 2-3 0-0 4, Ross 0-1 0-0 0, Boykins 1-2 0-0 2, Young 0-1 0-0 0, Oberto 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 31-68 20-24 83.BOSTON (86)Pierce 6-

Lady Vols down Kentucky for SEC title >>
Duluth, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Shekinna Stricklen poured in 20 points and grabbed nine rebounds, as fourth-ranked Tennessee defeated Kentucky in the SEC title game. Kelly Cain added 11 points for the Lady Vols (30-2), who completed thei

Chappell out as coach at Central Arkansas >>
Conway, AR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The University of Central Arkansas fired head men's basketball coach Rand Chappell and his staff on Sunday. The move came a day after the Bears completed their season with a mark of 9-21 overall, including 3

Deslauriers, Oilers blank Devils >>
Edmonton, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers made 22 saves for his third shutout of the season to help the Edmonton Oilers take a 2-0 win over the New Jersey Devils at Rexall Place. Gilbert Brule and Marc Pouliot each had a

COLLEGE FOOTBALL BETTING

NCAA Football Betting : USC's reward: Top spot in Top 25

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.

Get free Sports Betting lines RSS feeds from top rated online sportsbook MySportsbook.com