Maple Leafs aim to end slide in road test with Oilers
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02/15/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Toronto Maple Leafs will try to end their longest losing streak of the season when they visit the Edmonton Oilers for tonight's battle at Rexall Place.
The Maple Leafs have lost four in a row -- all in regulation -- and another setback tonight would give Toronto its longest skid since an eight-game drought from Oct. 28-Nov. 13 of last season.
Toronto, which was dealt a lopsided 5-1 loss Tuesday in Calgary, cannot afford its losing streak to get any longer, as the club is hanging onto the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference by a thread. With 62 points, the Leafs are just one ahead of Washington for the East's final postseason berth.
The Leafs fired 42 shots on Tuesday night, but Calgary's Miikka Kiprusoff turned aside 41 of them in the rout at the Saddledome. Tyler Bozak scored the only goal for the Maple Leafs, while Jonas Gustavsson was tagged for all five goals on 34 shots in defeat.
"We had a couple of really bad mistakes on the back end and the puck ended up in the net," Maple Leafs head coach Ron Wilson said.
Phil Kessel posted an assist in the loss and also registered five shots on net for the Maple Leafs, who are 12-14-2 on the road this season. Toronto is playing the middle test of a three-game swing that is set to end Saturday in Vancouver.
Toronto posted a 6-3 win over the visiting Oilers on Feb. 6 and the Leafs will try to complete the season series sweep tonight. Kessel scored twice and added an assist in the previous win for the Maple Leafs, who have taken two straight and three of four from the Oilers. Toronto has also won three of four and four of its last six games in Edmonton.
The Oilers, who are 14 points out of a playoff spot in the West, ended a two- game slide in their last game and have posted a solid 5-2-1 record over their last eight trips to the ice.
Edmonton has also won three straight on home ice to improve its record as the host to 15-8-3. Tonight's test kicks off a three-game homestand for the Oilers, who will also welcome Colorado and Vancouver before the week is done.
The Oilers earned a dramatic victory when they last played Saturday in Ottawa. Taylor Hall scored 17 seconds into overtime to lift Edmonton to a 4-3 win over the Senators. Hall led a rush in overtime, getting off an initial shot that was stopped by Craig Anderson. Shawn Horcoff then tried to whack the rebound in, but was also denied before Hall came around the net on the left side and backhanded a loose puck into the open side of the net.
Horcoff had a goal and two assists in the win, while Magnus Paajarvi and Ben Eager also scored goals. Nikolai Khabibulin had 39 saves for Edmonton.
"We pushed ourselves into the game. Kudos to our team," said Oilers coach Tom Renney. "We got it going."
The Oilers hope to get defenseman Theo Peckham back tonight after he sat out the last five games due to a facial injury suffered in practice. Fellow blueliner Corey Potter is also questionable after suffering a groin injury in Saturday's game.
Edmonton forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has still not returned to practice after re-injuring his shoulder earlier this month. The No. 1 overall pick of last summer's draft has 13 goals and 35 points in 40 games as a rookie.
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The NFL preseason is approaching. Time for players, coaches and teams to turn over a new leaf. General managers have hired some new coaches, while coaches have added some offensive and defensive assistants to try and improve things. Here’s a look at some changes to look for in the preseason.
New York Jets: The Jets were one of the surprise teams in the NFL last season, making the playoffs under hard-driving first-year coach Eric Mangini. Mangini rebuilt the offensive line with rookies D'Brickashaw Ferguson (the No. 4 pick in the 2007 Draft) and Ohio State center (the 29th pick in the first round). This season he upgraded the defense with rookie linebacker David Harris (Michigan) while the secondary picked up a much needed top-notch corner in Pitt CB Darrelle Revis (No. 14 overall).
The Jets have added balance to the offense for QB Chad Pennington with RB Thomas Jones, essentially stolen from the Bears. He will upgrade a New York ground game that was 20th in rushing with a weak 3.5 yards per carry. They have their first true feature back since Curtis Martin. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer prefers ball control, like his father Marty. In preseason, behind Pennington you’ll see second-year QB Kellen Clemens and mobile newcomer QB Marques Tuiasosopo.
Jacksonville Jaguars: The heat is on Jack Del Rio in Jacksonville as the Jaguars flopped last season despite a ton of talent. Keep in mind that under Del Rio the Jaguars have been outstanding in preseason with a 12-4 SU, 11-5 ATS August mark. online football betting Their defense is loaded, it’s the offense that has been stuck in first gear the last few years.
Enter a new offensive coordinator in Dirk Koetter, the former Boise State and Arizona State pass-happy coach. He will try and upgrade a passing game that ranked 24th last season. Del Rio has criticized wide receivers and Matt Jones this summer, both of whom have battled injuries. It will be interesting to watch the “new” Jaguars passing game in preseason.
Arizona Cardinals: Word out of Arizona is that the players like new coach Ken Whisenhunt, who was the Steelers offensive coordinator last year. We think of Arizona as all-passing because their running game has been awful of late because of a poor offensive line. However, keep an eye on the running game in preseason as they’ve made a lot of changes.
The new coach brings in Russ Grimm to coach the offensive line (Grimm did a marvelous job building the Steelers line). They took Penn State OT Levi Jones in the first round and signed two offensive linemen, Mike Gandy and Al Johnson, to provide depth. Reggie Wells was moved from right tackle to left guard and they want more speed out of the offensive line for pulling and traps, a Pittsburgh staple under Bill Cowher.
Atlanta Falcons: While all the attention has been focused on QB Mike Vick’s off-field problems, new coach Bobby Petrino is revamping the Falcons from an all-running team to a more balanced one. Petrino likes the experience of backup QB Joey Harrington and he has veteran backup Chris Redman, who used to play for Petrino at Louisville and knows his offenses better than anyone. Petrino wants Vick to be more of a pocket passer.
The addition of FB Ovie Mughelli is a sign Petrino wants a power rushing attack behind a physical fullback and newcomer WR Joe Horn should upgrade what was a below average wideout corps. Petrino is changing their old zone-blocking scheme to a more traditional in-line blocking scheme and the offensive line is bigger. Rookie DE Jamaal Anderson was grabbed in the first round and the secondary got younger with former Auburn cornerback David Irons, who the Falcons think was a steal as a sixth-round pick.
Cleveland Browns: The 2007 Browns look like a double-edged sword. There was the excitement of the offseason, trading for RB Jamel Lewis, upgrading the offensive line with Wisconsin’s Joe Thomas (the No. 2 pick in the draft) and free agent LG Eric Steinbach, then trading for Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn when he fell to No. 22. GM Phil Savage and head coach Romeo Crennel feel they have a talented, balanced offense with these new pieces, plus TE >Kellen Winslow and WR Braylon Edwards.
However, were these moves made in desperation? And were they foolish ones? The Browns gave up their 2008 first-round pick for Quinn and we all know QBs take time to develop. And even first-round QBs can be busts (Joey Harrington, Akili Smith). We also don’t know if the offensive line is that much improved (31st in rushing in 2007) and they did nothing to improve a defense that was awful against the run (142 yds pg allowed).
The Browns have a new offensive coordinator in Rob Chudzinski. This is a young offense and Quinn looked tentative, indecisive and inaccurate early in camp. Crennel will play Charlie Frye, Quinn and Derek Anderson in preseason. And there is a mixed bag for rookie QBs receiving significant starts: Tim Couch (14), Kerry Collins (13), Ben Roethlisberger (13), Vince Young (13), Joey Harrington (12), Matt Leinart (11) and Kyle Boller (nine). While all the focus will be on the Browns new-look offense, I’m more concerned with the defense.
Carolina Panthers: Coach Jon Fox loves the ground game, but Carolina has made some interesting changes for 2007. Fox fired offensive coordinator Dan Henning and brings in Jeff Davidson to run the offense. Davidson has brought in zone-blocking schemes to the Panther offense, a dramatic change for a system that's been built around a power-running style.
In zone-blocking, offensive linemen are responsible for blocking any defender who appears in their zone, instead of focusing on one defender. The Broncos and Falcons have had success with the system, which features smaller, more athletic offensive linemen and can create running lanes on the inside and outside. Keep an eye in preseason on how Carolina adjusts as it will take time to learn the system. Fox has been one of the top coaches in preseason, with a 15-5 SU, 12-7-1 ATS August record.
Dallas Cowboys: WR Terrell Owens is still here, but QB Drew Bledsoe and Bill Parcells are gone. New head coach Wade Phillips takes over, replacing Parcells. He ran the Chargers defense last season. Phillips was chosen by teary-eyed owner Jerry Jones partly because he is one of the best 3-4 coaches in football and the Cowboys have loaded up on players for that scheme.
Remember that Phillips was blitz-happy with the Chargers last season and early reports out of the Dallas camp have mentioned how the Cowboys have been blitzing a lot, a departure from Parcells. The theme of the 2007 Dallas defense appears to be one of attack.
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