Canadiens head to Columbus seeking end to downward spiral

Hockey Betting Lines

02/18/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Montreal Canadiens take to the road in hopes of ending their recent tailspin, as the free-falling club visits Columbus' Nationwide Arena tonight for a rare matchup with the Blue Jackets.

Montreal is currently mired in a season-high six-game losing streak, a slide which has seen the Habs drop from fourth place in the Eastern Conference into a tie with the New York Islanders for ninth. The Canadiens now sit on the outside looking in of the playoff picture, two points behind rival Toronto for the final postseason spot in the East.

The team's struggles continued on Saturday, when Carolina's Rod Brind'Amour scored two goals, including the 400th of his career, to propel the Hurricanes to a 5-3 victory at the Bell Centre.

Montreal fell despite producing a 45-31 advantage in shots, as Carolina goaltender Cam Ward outdueled David Aebischer with an impressive 42-save performance.

Sheldon Souray, Radek Bonk and Tomas Plekanec all scored for the Canadiens, who have been outscored 22-10 during the streak.

Aebischer was filling in for injured All-Star Cristobal Huet, who needs surgery to repair a hamstring tear suffered in Montreal's 5-2 loss at New Jersey on Wednesday. The Habs recalled rookie Jaroslav Halak from the minors Friday as a result of Huet's injury, and the 21-year-old is expected to make his NHL debut tonight.

Columbus will be playing the last of a franchise-record six consecutive home games and would like to draw even for the lengthy stand. After dropping three of the first four contests of the residency, the Blue Jackets downed San Jose on Friday behind a stellar performance from goaltender Fredrik Norrena.

The Finnish rookie earned his third career shutout by turning back all 29 shots he faced as Columbus came through with a 3-0 triumph over the Sharks. Norrena got plenty of offensive support from Fredrik Modin, Gilbert Brule and Sergei Fedorov, all of whom recorded a goal and an assist on the evening.

The Blue Jackets are 14-13-3 at Nationwide Arena for the campaign, but have posted an 11-6-1 home mark since Ken Hitchcock took over as head coach in late November.

Tonight's clash marks the first encounter between these teams since they fought to a 1-1 tie in Montreal on November 11, 2003. The Canadiens have only visited Columbus one time previously, back on October 12, 2001. The Habs came away with a 3-1 decision.

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It's less than a month until the NHL hockey betting season opens at MySportsbook.com and preparations are underway for another battle in the race to hoist Lord Stanley's mug in 2007.

As cup crazy fans prepare to place their bets, one online sportsbook ,MySportsbook.com, is offering hockey betting lines on the 2007/2007 Stanley Cup , who will bring it home this upcoming season.

Despite a poor showing in last season's playoffs and the loss of Steve Yzerman to retirement, the Detroit Red Wings are early favourites at this online sportsbook with wagering odds of 6-1. The Wings will look to offensive powerhouse Pavel Datsyuk and newly appointed captain Nicklas Lidstrom to lead one of the league's most prominent franchises.

Always a threat are the Ottawa Senators, with newly acquired goaltender Martin Gerber from the Stanley Cup champion ,Carolina Hurricanes. The Sens are second best in the rankings at a 7-1 bet, and odds makers at this sportsbook are optimistic that the Ottawa squad will fare better than last season's Eastern Conference semi-final upset to the Buffalo Sabres.

Also worth noting are the defending Stanley Cup champs Carolina Hurricanes, a 10-1 bet to repeat. Behind the Canes are the New Jersey Devils, Calgary Flames, Buffalo Sabres, Philadelphia Flyers, and Anaheim Mighty Ducks all sit at 12-1. In the basement are the Washington Capitals, Chicago Blackhawks, and St. Louis Blues who all have 100-1 odds to win.

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