Blues keep rolling, top Blue Jackets

Hockey Betting Lines

03/13/2010 - Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Andy McDonald had a goal and a pair of assists, and Chris Mason stopped 24 shots, as the surging St. Louis Blues topped Columbus, 5-1, at Nationwide Arena.

Alexander Steen, B.J. Crombeen, David Backes and David Perron also scored for the Blues, who have won seven of their last eight games. They have 73 points, which is five behind Detroit for the final postseason slot in the Western Conference.

Jakub Voracek had the lone goal for Columbus, which lost for the sixth time in eight games. Steve Mason made 31 saves in defeat.

The Blue Jackets won their previous two games, but after a scoreless first period, St. Louis netted a pair of goals in a 1:39 span of the second. McDonald scored at 11:20 on a shot from the slot. A short time later, Backes' wrister from the right circle beat the netminder high to the glove side.

Perron put in a power play score with a minute left in the second with a successful wrister from the right circle, and it became 4-0 at 6:15 of the third on a Steen man-advantage goal.

Voracek's 11th of the season, with 5:41 left in the third, broke the shutout, and Crombeen scored into an empty net with 1:34 remaining. Crombeen's goal was short-handed as Barret Jackman was handed a four-minute penalty for delivering a high stick to the face of Voracek.

Game Notes

St. Louis finishes its six-game road trip at Minnesota on Sunday. The Blues haven't played at home since before the Olympic break, February 13 against Washington...The Blues are an impressive 20-10-4 as the visitor this season...Blue Jackets leading scorer Rick Nash missed his third straight game because of a lower-body injury.

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Big East Conference odds

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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