Blue Jackets aim to set single-season win record versus Blackhawks

Hockey Betting Lines

03/13/2009 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Columbus Blue Jackets will try to set a franchise record for the most wins in a single season tonight, as they visit the Chicago Blackhawks in a battle of playoff contenders at the United Center.

The Blue Jackets halted Pittsburgh's seven-game winning streak with a 4-3 shootout win on Thursday night. Kristian Huselius, who scored in regulation, beat Penguins netminder Marc-Andre Fleury with a wrister, while Evgeni Malkin fired wide left on his subsequent chance to give Columbus the win.

The triumph matched the franchise-record 35 victories Columbus posted in 2005-06 and the club is now just four points shy of the single-season record 80 it notched last season. The Blue Jackets, sixth in the Western Conference and one point back of fifth-seeded Vancouver, have never made the playoffs since entering the league prior to 2000-01.

Jason Williams and Antoine Vermette tallied a goal and an assist apiece for the Blue Jackets, who have won three consecutive contests. Steve Mason made 38 saves to pick up his 28th win on the year, breaking the franchise's single- season record set by Marc Denis in 2002-03.

Columbus, 13-17-4 on the road this year, returns home to host Detroit on Sunday before getting a visit from Chicago on Wednesday.

The Blackhawks, who sit fourth overall in the West with 83 points, won for just the third time in eight games on Wednesday with a 3-2 shootout win over Carolina. Kris Versteeg had the deciding shootout tally, converting a wrister just below the crossbar in the fourth round.

Sergei Samsonov represented the last hope for Carolina, but Cristobal Huet made the save to secure the win for Chicago, its first over the Hurricanes since 1999.

Troy Brouwer and Versteeg scored in regulation for Chicago, while Huet made 29 saves for his 19th win of the season.

Chicago activated goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin off injured reserve on Wednesday. He has been out since February 11 due to a groin injury and could return to the ice tonight.

However, Martin Havlat is questionable with a lower-body injury that forced him to miss Wednesday's game. Havlat is tied with Jonathan Toews for second on the club with 57 points off 21 goals and 36 assists.

Chicago has split the first two games of a four-game homestand and is 18-6-6 at the United Center this year. The Blackhawks end the residency on Sunday versus the New York Islanders.

The 'Hawks have won both of their meetings with the Blue Jackets this year, claiming one victory by way of the shootout. Chicago has won three straight and five of the last six meetings in the series, as well as three of the last four as the host.

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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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