Corvo, Walker lead Caps against Hurricanes

Hockey Betting Lines

03/10/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Both Joe Corvo and Scott Walker were given a chance to compete on a championship-caliber team when they were traded by the Hurricanes to the Capitals before the trade deadline. One week later, they get to show off in front of their old club.

Corvo and Walker will square off against their former mates tonight when Washington tries to avoid a second consecutive defeat at Verizon Center versus a Carolina squad that is making a late playoff push despite being sellers at the deadline.

The Capitals have been on fire since early January, going 20-2-3 over their last 25 games while jumping out to a 31-point edge over the second-place Thrashers for the top spot in the Southeast Division. They also lead the Penguins by 13 points for the top spot in the Eastern Conference and the Sharks by four points for the most in the NHL.

Washington has also earned a point in six of its last seven games, going 3-1-3 in that span. That includes Monday's 4-3 shootout loss to Dallas that halted the Caps' home winning streak at 11 games.

Tom Poti and Alex Ovechkin scored in the first and second periods respectively, but the Stars scored three times in the third frame. Ovechkin, though, netted the game-tying goal with 3:16 left in the third before the team's five-round shootout loss to the Stars and goaltender Marty Turco, who stopped a career-high 49 Washington shots.

Semyon Varlamov stopped 23 shots in the loss, Washington's first at home since December 28 to Carolina.

"It's not everyday you throw 52 shots on net," said Washington head coach Bruce Boudreau. "We've seen what [Turco] can do when he's at the top of his game, and tonight he was at the top of his game."

Ovechkin snapped a season-long six-game goal drought and moved into a tie with Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby for the league lead in goals with 44. Ovechkin is also tops in the NHL with 92 points and posted his fifth consecutive 300-shot season.

The Hurricanes had lost their first two games versus the Capitals this year before that victory at Verizon Center on December 28 behind two goals and three assists from Eric Staal. It was only Carolina's fourth win in its last 11 versus Washington overall and its third in nine trips to D.C.

Despite entering this game nine points back of playoff spot, the Hurricanes still opted to deal defenseman Corvo and winger Walker to the Capitals last week in separate trades, just a few of the handful of deals Carolina made before the deadline.

The club has yet to slow down, winning seven straight prior to Saturday's loss to Florida. However, Carolina got right back in the win column on Sunday with a 4-0 triumph over Atlanta for its first shutout of the season. Manny Legace made 27 saves for his 24th career shutout and first since April 5, 2008 while with St. Louis.

"[The Thrashers] are so talented you just got to be on top of your game all night," Legace said. "My defense played phenomenal in front of me all night long."

Jussi Jokinen had a goal and an assist while Brandon Sutter, Joni Pitkanen, and Rod Brind'Amour also lit the lamp for the victors. Sutter now has four goals and four assists over a six-game point streak.

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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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