Ducks kick off road trip in Edmonton

Hockey Betting Lines

12/19/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Anaheim Ducks begin a five-game road trip tonight with a stop in Edmonton, where they will battle the Oilers at Rexall Place.

The Ducks had played two straight and four of their last five at home. They hosted the New York Rangers on Tuesday and dropped a 3-1 decision to halt a five-game home winning streak.

Chris Kunitz had the lone goal off assists from Bret Hedican and Ryan Carter, as Anaheim lost for the second time in three games overall.

Jonas Hiller allowed two goals on 29 shots to take the loss. He started over Jean-Sebastien Giguere, who was on the bench for the game despite the death of his father Claude on Monday.

Giguere will miss tonight's game after returning home to Montreal but is expected to rejoin the team prior to Monday's game in Vancouver. Netminder David LeNeveu was recalled from Iowa of the American Hockey League on Thursday.

Hiller made his first-career start versus the Oilers on October 15 of this season, allowing three goals in a loss.

Anaheim has yet to win a road game this month (0-3) and is 7-5-1 as the visiting team this year.

After allowing nine goals in a loss to Chicago on Tuesday, the Oilers fell in defeat the following night in Vancouver, 4-2. Dustin Penner and Sam Gagner scored for the Oilers, who have lost three of four.

Ales Hemsky notched his team-best 21st assist and 31st point in the win.

Dwayne Roloson was beaten three times on 27 shots in defeat. He is 7-6-1 with a tie and a 2.50 goals against average lifetime against the Ducks. Fellow goaltender Mathieu Garon is 6-6-3 with a 3.04 GAA versus Anaheim and got the win against them earlier this year by halting 33-of-35 shots faced.

The Oilers play the first of back-to-back home games tonight and are 4-5-2 as the host. Edmonton welcomes Phoenix to town on Monday.

Edmonton's win versus Anaheim in October was its fourth in the last five meetings. The Oilers have also downed the Ducks in nine of the last 13 battles.

The Ducks have lost 14 of their last 16 in Edmonton.

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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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