Kessel helps Leafs edge Edmonton

Hockey Betting Lines

03/13/2010 - Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Phil Kessel scored two goals and dished out an assist, as the Toronto Maple Leafs outlasted the Edmonton Oilers, 6-4, in a matchup between two teams in the basement in the NHL standings.

Tyler Bozak had a goal and two assists for the Leafs, who have won three in a row but still sit last in the Eastern Conference with 58 points. Nikolai Kulemin finished with a goal and an assist. Mikhail Grabovski and Jamie Lundmark also lit the lamp for the victors.

Jonas Gustavsson turned aside 25-of-29 shots.

Dustin Penner ended with a goal and two assists for the Oilers, who have dropped three straight and sit in the cellar of the West with 49 points. Andrew Cogliano had a goal and an assist, while Gilbert Brule and Aaron Johnson also scored in defeat.

Jeff Deslauriers stopped 23-of-28 shots before being pulled after the second period. Devan Dubnyk made 18 saves in relief.

The Leafs drew first blood at the 13:34 mark of the first period on Kulemin's wrister. Toronto's margin was two when Bozak's backhander beat Deslauriers with 1:55 remaining.

Cogliano scored just 57 seconds into the second to make it a 2-1 game. Cogliano charged up the right wing and went top-shelf with a wrister to beat Gustavsson.

Lundmark's fifth goal of the season at the 4:24 mark put the Leafs back in front by two.

Toronto then scored back-to-back goals on the power play to build a comfortable lead. A Zack Stortini roughing call at 5:25 was followed 28 seconds later by a Johnson tripping penalty. Kessel capitalized at the 6:15 mark to make it 4-1. Grabovski lit the lamp 35 seconds later on the power play to give Toronto a four-goal cushion.

Brule found the back of the net with a slapper with 6:49 remaining to cut the deficit to 5-2.

A power-play goal from Penner at the 6:26 mark of the third made it a 5-3 contest. Ryan Whitney's slap shot from the point was deflected in by Penner.

Kessel lit the lamp during a 5-on-3 power play to give the Leafs a 6-3 cushion. Kessel gathered the disc and made his way to the bottom of the right circle before firing a wrister past Dubnyk.

Johnson scored on the power play with less than a minute left to account for the final margin. Mike Comrie, who was positioned at the side of the net, slid a pass in front to Johnson, whose snap shot found the upper left corner of the net.

Game Notes

Edmonton and Toronto split a pair of matchups this season...The Oilers have dropped nine of their last 11 contests in Toronto...Edmonton is a dismal 8-22-3 as the guest this year...The Leafs went 3-for-8 on the power play, while the Oilers went 2-for-6 with the man advantage.

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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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