Senators shoot past Oilers

Hockey Betting Lines

02/21/2007 - Ottawa, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dean McAmmond was credited with the game-winning goal in the shootout and the Ottawa Senators escaped a late rally to defeat the Edmonton Oilers, 4-3, at Scotiabank Place.

Dany Heatley, Mike Fisher and Daniel Alfredsson scored in regulation for Ottawa, which relinquished a 3-1 lead with under five minutes remaining in regulation but used the extra periods to win their fifth straight game overall. Martin Gerber made 27 saves for the Senators, who will now face Buffalo in a home-and-home series that begins on Thursday in New York.

Petr Sykora scored twice and Tom Gilbert's first career goal tied the contest with 19.8 seconds to play for slumping Edmonton, which remained winless (0-2-2) on its current seven-game road trip that will continue in Columbus on Thursday. Jussi Markkanen allowed three goals on 34 shots in the loss.

After the Oilers tied the game in the waning seconds of the third period, a furious overtime saw quality scoring chances for both teams but the goaltenders stopped all nine shots taken.

Both McAmmond and Mike Comrie then scored in the shootout as Gerber stopped all of Edmonton's attempts to seal the win.

When Ottawa defenseman Chris Phillips was whistled for hooking only 25 seconds into the final period, the Oilers went to work with the man advantage and cut their deficit to 2-1 at the 1:34 mark. After several shots missed the net, the puck made its way back to the right point, where Sykora corralled the puck, drifted into the high slot and unleased a slap shot that lit the lamp with the help of a screen by Ryan Smyth.

Alfredsson's 20th goal with 7:43 remaining in regulation restored Ottawa's two-goal edge. On a 3-on-2 rush, Mike Fisher skated down the slot and passed into the left circle for Peter Schaefer, who stopped and spotted a cutting Alfredsson, who followed his initial shot and backhanded home the rebound.

The Sens appeared in control and on their way to victory, but a mistake by Chris Kelly gave the Oilers hope. Kelly committed the cardinal sin in hockey -- a cross-ice pass from deep in his own zone -- and the disc was deflected by Raffi Torres and sat in the low slot. Sykora was all alone and beat Gerber with a wrist shot to bring Edmonton within 3-2 with 4:12 remaining in regulation.

Inside the final minute, the Oilers pulled Markkanen for the extra skater and it paid off when Gilbert scored his first career goal during a flurry at the top of the crease.

Ottawa dominated the first period and created many scoring chances that Markkanen turned aside. Within the first three minutes of the game, with the Senators buzzing in their offensive zone, referee Chris Lee waived off what appeared to be Ottawa's first goal. During a scramble in front of the net, the puck crossed the goal off an errant stick but Antoine Vermette was in the crease and the tally was nullified.

Two minutes later, Kelly was all alone in the slot, but his wrist shot was gloved by Markkanen. Another key stop was made with 6:50 remaining in the first when Vermette's shot from near the left post was denied.

Heatley finally put the Sens on the scoreboard at the 14:44 mark. An attempted dump-in by Ottawa from the blue line deflected of the skate of Ales Hemsky and the disc caromed high into the air before it landed on the left side near the top of the circle. Heatley gained control and lit the lamp with a sharp- angle wrister from beneath the left circle for his 33rd goal of the season.

The second period saw Edmonton win more battles along the boards and the visitors outshot the Senators 9-8 in the stanza, but the hosts tallied the only goal when Fisher scored his 13th with 7:40 remaining from Alfredsson and Phillips.

The Oilers nearly cut their deficit in half with 1:45 to play before the second intermission, but Smyth's one-timer from the top of the right circle missed the net by inches.

Game Notes

Ottawa starting goaltender Ray Emery served the final of his three-game suspension and is expected to return to the lineup on Thursday. He was punished for a slash on Montreal's Maxim Lapierre on February 10...Senators coach Bryan Murray notched his 600th career win and joined a select group of only four other coaches who have reached that plateau: Scotty Bowman, Al Arbour, Dick Irvin and Pat Quinn...The Oilers ended 1-for-3 on the power play and held Ottawa scoreless on its two chances with the extra skater.

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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.


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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