Nashville escapes Los Angeles with one-goal victory

Hockey Betting Lines

03/14/2010 - Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Patric Hornqvist scored the game-winner late in the third period, as the Nashville Predators edged the Los Angeles Kings, 3-2, at Staples Center.

Steve Sullivan and Colin Wilson also scored for the Predators, who ended a four-game road trip with a 3-1-0 mark. Pekka Rinne made 18 saves for Nashville, which sits seventh in the Western Conference.

The Predators have won seven in a row against the Kings, and five straight in Los Angeles.

Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown lit the lamp for the Kings, who started a four- game homestand on Sunday. Jonathan Quick turned aside 28-of-31 shots for Los Angeles, which is currently fifth in the West.

With the score deadlocked at 1-1 in the third, Brown lit the lamp with a wrister from the slot at the 5:56 mark to give the Kings the edge.

Nashville had an answer just 39 seconds later. Martin Erat made his way in front and put a shot on net. Quick made the save but left a rebound for Wilson, who chipped the puck home.

Hornqvist then scored with 3:31 remaining to give the Predators a 3-2 margin. Dan Hamhuis' shot from the left point was gathered in front by Hornqvist, who was screening the LA netminder. Hornqvist made a quick move and beat Quick with a shot.

Los Angeles couldn't get the equalizer despite pulling Quick in the final minute for the extra attacker.

The Predators got on the board at the 4:42 mark of the first period. Sullivan gathered the disc at center ice and charged down the right side. The forward fired a shot from the bottom of the right circle that snuck past Quick.

Kopitar tied things up with a power-play goal at the 8:56 mark. Michal Handzus, who was positioned at the side of the net, slid a pass in front for Kopitar, whose wrister beat Rinne.

Quick made eight saves in a scoreless second frame, while Rinne stopped four shots.

Game Notes

The Predators haven't lost to the Kings since March 13, 2008...Prior to the contest, Los Angeles assigned goaltender Jonathan Bernier to Manchester of the American Hockey League...Nashville went 0-for-1 on the power play, while Los Angeles was good on its sole chance.

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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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