Guerin lifts Blues over Sabres in OT
Hockey Betting Lines
12/24/2006 - St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bill Guerin's second goal of the night, coming 1:35 into overtime, sent the St. Louis Blues to a 3-2 overtime win over the Buffalo Sabres at Scottrade Center.
Ryan Johnson picked up the other goal and Christian Backman registered two assists for St. Louis, which has won three straight following an 11-game losing streak. Manny Legace made 21 saves to earn the win.
Daniel Briere notched a pair of assists, while Jochen Hecht and Jason Pominville tallied goals for Buffalo, which has dropped three of its last four games. Martin Biron took the loss despite stopping 29 shots.
The game-winner came as Doug Weight blew past Sabres defenseman Toni Lydman at center ice and led a 2-on-1 with Guerin over the Buffalo blue line. Weight held until he reached the top of the left circle before dishing across to Guerin, whose tip-in beat Biron at the far post.
It was a hard-luck loss for the struggling Sabres, who have not beaten the Blues since October 1, 1997, a span of 11 games.
Down by a goal heading into the third period, the Blues got a huge break early on which swung the momentum in their favor.
Hecht was denied a second goal of the game, when an official review determined he used a kicking motion with his right skate to redirect a puck into the net at the 1:30 mark of the third.
The ruling seemed to energize the home team, who would tie the game midway through the period when Guerin batted Jay McClement's left circle shot out of the air and through Biron, setting up the brief overtime session.
The Blues opened the scoring when Backman's rising wrister from between the circles hit Johnson and bounced in at 5:31 of the first.
Buffalo picked up the equalizer when defenseman Barret Jackman mistakenly drifted toward Briere as he led a 3-on-2 rush, leaving Hecht wide open to receive his pass and slide it through Legace's pads at 1:20 of the second.
Pominville followed to put the Sabres up 2-1 with 3:22 to go, shoveling home his own rebound from the edge of the crease. Briere hit Legace with the initial shot, and the young forward followed with two chances from in close.
Game Notes
Hecht's goal was the 100th of his career...St. Louis had surrendered a power- play goal in each of its last nine games, but held Buffalo scoreless in three chances...Guerin has three two-goal games this year...Buffalo returns to action Tuesday hosting Washington, while St. Louis travels to Nashville.
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Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence
Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.
Work left to do:
Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.
Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.
DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...
West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.
Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.
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