Avs aim to close homestand with win over 'Canes

Hockey Betting Lines

02/10/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Colorado Avalanche recently put their longest skid of the season behind them and will try to close out a four-game homestand with another victory when they face the Carolina Hurricanes tonight at Pepsi Center.

The Avalanche had lost five straight (0-4-1) before busting out of the slump with Tuesday's 5-2 win over Chicago. Colorado needs all the wins it can get, as it enters tonight as the 12th seed in the Western Conference playoff race and just three points out of a postseason spot.

David Jones scored twice for Colorado as it took down the slumping Blackhawks on Tuesday. The victory pushed the Avalanche's record at home to 15-13-1, and after tonight's homestand finale, Colorado will play four straight and six of its next seven on the road.

Kyle Quincey, Peter Mueller and Gabriel Landeskog each added a goal for the Avs on Tuesday, while Jean-Sebastien Giguere gave up just two goals on 31 shots. The score was tied at 2-2 after 40 minutes, but Landeskog's tally put the Avalanche up for good just 38 seconds into the third period.

"Honestly, when we play teams like Chicago and Vancouver, we seem to respect them more," said Colorado center Paul Stastny, who had two assists in the game. "We move the puck quicker, we may give up a few more transitions, but we also get more chances. And when Giguere plays like he did tonight, we are fine."

Injured Avs forward Matt Duchene has been working on skating drills in recent days, but it's still unclear when the 21-year-old will be able to return to action. Duchene, who has 12 goals and 12 assists in 39 games this year, hasn't played since suffering a knee injury against Phoenix on Dec. 29.

While Colorado is knocking on the door in the Western Conference playoff race, the Hurricanes are last in the East and 10 points out of a postseason berth. Carolina has recorded a point in three straight games (2-0-1), but it's coming off Wednesday's overtime loss in Anaheim.

Corey Perry scored the game-winning goal at 2:14 of the overtime period to lift the Ducks to a 3-2 home win. Carolina held leads of 1-0 and 2-1, but wasn't able to close out Anaheim.

Tuomo Ruutu and Eric Staal lit the lamp and Cam Ward made 31 saves in defeat for the Hurricanes, who squandered a chance to secure their first three-game winning streak since October 12-18.

"Our effort was there," Staal said. "It's just unfortunate things went against us in the overtime."

Tonight marks the second stop on a three-game road trip for the 'Canes, who have a dismal 6-13-7 record as the guest this season. The swing is set to end Monday in Montreal.

Carolina has won three of the last four meetings against the Avalanche, but the Hurricanes are winless in their past nine at Colorado, going 0-6-1 with a pair of ties since. They haven't won there since picking up an overtime win as the Hartford Whalers on Feb. 9. 1996.

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Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.