This isn’t the same Columbus Blue Jackets squad, one that in the past might have let this game slip away.

This is a more determined Blue Jackets team, one that’s focused on finding a way to get into the playoffs.

And this was definitely a good start.

Umberger tied the game late in the final period and Nick Foligno scored at 4:31 of overtime, helping the Blue Jackets beat the Colorado Avalanche 4-3 on Monday night for their fourth straight win.

Blake Comeau and Mark Letestu also added goals as the Blue Jackets remained in the thick of a tightly packed playoff chase. They pulled even in points (47) with Detroit for the final playoff spot.

“No one got down,” Umberger said. “This bench, this bench was saying, ‘Let’s go after them. Let’s get them.’ This group, we’re fighting to the end and everybody knew we were going to win this game.”

First, though, Sergei Bobrovsky had to save the game. With the Avalanche short-handed to start the extra period, Gabriel Landeskog broke free and it looked as if he might put an end to things. After all, Landeskog is one of the leaders in the league in short-handed goals this season.

But Bobrovsky made a magnificent save, robbing Landeskog of a goal.

Then, with just 28.7 seconds remaining in OT, Foligno skated in on the right side of Jean-Sebastien Giguere and sent a wrist shot by the veteran goaltender.

That was a departure for Foligno, who’s usually looking to pass in that situation and not shoot.

In this case, being selfish paid dividends.

“I just figured I’d shoot (through Giguere’s pads) and catch him before he went down and luckily it was able to sneak through,” Foligno said. “It was huge.”

Indeed.

Maybe even save-the-season huge, especially with only five games remaining.

“We’re finding ways,” Blue Jackets coach Todd Richards said. “That’s what you have to do this time of year. Tough environment, tough team to play against with really nothing to lose — a big two points for our team.”

Cody McLeod scored twice and Jamie McGinn added another for the Avalanche, who are last in the Western Conference.

McGinn gave the Avs a lead with just over two minutes remaining in regulation on a power play, but it didn’t hold as Umberger answered just 35 seconds later.

Lately, Colorado hasn’t been playing as if it’s a last-place team. Giguere woke his teammates out of their funk when he criticized them for being more concerned about postseason plans in Las Vegas than their play on the ice.

That seemed to do the trick. Colorado is 2-0-2 following Giguere’s outburst.

There also was a dose of motivation for the Avs, too. The Blue Jackets beat Colorado twice down the stretch last season, all but ending the team’s late playoff bid.

This time, the Avs were trying to step into the role of spoilers.

Didn’t quite work out.

“This is playoff-type hockey,” Giguere said. “More often than not, if we play like this, we’ll get some wins.”

McLeod had his first two-goal game since Oct. 17, 2009, at Detroit. The small number of fans who braved a spring snow storm roaring through the Mile High City let out a thunderous cheer.

“For most of the game we battled hard, we get a huge goal with two minutes left in the game and then we give up a breakaway. We can’t do that,” McLeod said. “That’s the kind of thing we’ve been doing all year and it’s tough.”

This was precisely the kind of win the Blue Jackets’ needed.

“Huge character,” Foligno said. “You saw Blake’s goal, it was a big one, and Umby scored a huge one to get us into overtime. That seems to be the morale on this team. There’s no quit on this team and that’s what’s going to allow us, hopefully, to get into the playoffs.”

Game notes

Colorado coach Joe Sacco will lead the U.S. squad at the International Ice Hockey Federation World Championship in May. The tournament will be held in Helsinki, Finland, and Stockholm, Sweden. … Colorado reassigned G Sami Aittokallio to Lake Erie of the American Hockey League before the game. … Avs prospect Gus Young helped Yale to a win over Quinnipiac on Saturday in the NCAA championship game. Young, a seventh-round pick in 2009, is a defenseman and was on the ice for all four goals. … Blue Jackets D Adrian Aucoin (lower body) left the game in the second period. The Blue Jackets say he’s day to day. … A moment of silence was held before the national anthem for the victims of the bombings at the Boston Marathon earlier Monday.

The post Blue Jackets continue playoff push with OT win over Avs appeared first on IdealCapper.

He helped them pick up two Wednesday night.

Couture scored twice in regulation and added a shootout goal, and Dan Boyle netted the tiebreaker winner in the Sharks’ 4-3 victory over the Edmonton Oilers.

After Couture pulled the Sharks within a goal on a power play at 6:50 of the third, Tommy Wingels tied it at 9:15. San Jose snapped a two-game losing streak with its second victory in eight games.

“It’s a battle every night,” Couture said. “There are no easy points in this conference, every single team is so good. To win the way that we were able to and come back with two goals in the third, hopefully that can get us going in the right direction.

“We needed something. We need all the points we can get right now,” Couture said. “We need to find ways to get points every single night right now.”

Sharks head coach Todd McLellan credited Couture for being a real spark for the team in the comeback win.

“Logan is always really determined, but he gets excited to come here and play in Edmonton, I don’t know why,” he said. “He had six shots on goal, a couple of goals, and an amazing shot in the shootout. We’re really proud of him and we’re happy to have him.”

Sam Gagner, Shawn Horcoff and Ryan Jones scored for Edmonton. The Oilers have earned eight points in their last five games.

The Oilers opened the scoring midway through the first period on a power play. Nail Yakupov fed the puck across the ice to Gagner, who had time to tee up a slap shot from the top of the circle that beat Antti Niemi to the glove side. It was Gagner’s 12th goal of the season.

“It is very disappointing losing the penalty shots,” Oilers coach Ralph Krueger said. “We are a good team at that.

“It’s painful, but we have to look at the fact that we have points in five games and move forward,” he said. “But right now of course the pain of giving up a 3-1 lead dominates.”

Couture tied it off a rebound with just under six minutes to play in the period.

Edmonton regained the lead with 8 minutes left in the second period. Nick Schultz picked up a pass as he stepped on the ice from the penalty box, raced in on a 2-on-1 and fed Horcoff.

The Oilers made it 3-1 early in the third period when Jones stole the puck from defender Matt Irwin behind the San Jose net and hooked around to send the puck through Niemi’s legs.

Couture scored his 14th goal of the season to make it 3-2, sending a shot through traffic and past Dubnyk, and Wingels tied it with a quick wrist shot.

Game notes

Both teams are off until Saturday. Edmonton closes out a four-game homestand against St. Louis, and the Sharks are at Minnesota for the fourth game of a five-game trip. … It was the last of three meetings between the two teams. The Sharks spoiled the Oilers’ home opener Jan. 22 by scoring six first-period goals in a 6-3 win, and San Jose won 3-2 at home in a shootout. … Edmonton’s Ryan Nugent-Hopkins missed the game because of the flu. … Defenseman Marc-Edouard played in his 500th NHL game, all with San Jose.

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Lopez scored 38 points and Williams had 31 in his first visit since spurning his hometown team in free agency, leading the Brooklyn Nets past the Mavericks 113-96 on Wednesday night.

Williams scored 26 in the second half, repeatedly hitting shots and occasionally assisting on baskets by Lopez to prevent a Dallas rally in the fourth quarter.

Lopez matched the 38 points he scored in one of the five games he played last season, when the Nets snapped a 12-game losing streak in Dallas. Both times, he finished one point shy of his career high from two years ago against Detroit.

“The team played well in both games,” Lopez said with a laugh. “I think that’s the correlation. It just depends on who’s hot. We have so many options on this team.”

Williams and Lopez combined for a defining play midway through a fourth quarter full of big shots from both teams when Lopez blocked a shot and Williams hit a fadeaway jumper on the baseline after dribbling the length of the court. Williams ran to his bench with a big smile after Dallas called timeout trailing 97-88.

The Mavericks, who pulled within three twice during a back-and-forth quarter, got no closer than six after that.

“When you’re feeling good and feel like you can’t miss, it’s a good feeling,” said Williams, who shot 11 of 18 in the second half at one of his favorite arenas. “I looked over at my bench and saw the excitement. It’s a big win for us. It’s a big win no matter what.”

Dirk Nowitzki led Dallas with 16 points and had a team-high six rebounds compared to 22 boards for Reggie Evans of the Nets, who outrebounded the Mavericks 45-34.

The Nets improved to 2-0 on a season-high, eight-game road trip that now makes five straight stops out West. Brooklyn is two road wins shy of the franchise record of 20.

The Mavericks, who fell 3 1/2 games behind the Los Angeles Lakers for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference, lost the opener of a six-game homestand as they try to keep a 12-year postseason streak alive.

“They had two guys who had great games and we didn’t do a good job there,” Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. “It’s a bad result for us.”

Lopez, who set a season high for points, and Williams led a third-quarter run that put Brooklyn ahead for good. Lopez did most of his scoring inside but had a 12-foot bank shot and another jumper from just inside the 3-point line as the Nets built a 10-point lead.

Lopez, who also had 11 rebounds, was 15 of 22 from the field and 8 of 10 from the line.

Williams scored seven of nine Brooklyn points to start the third quarter, and Lopez had the other two. They combined to go 11 of 12 from the field in the third, and the only miss was a desperation heave from beyond halfcourt by Williams at the end of the quarter.

Williams even got into the act on the defensive end, taking a charge from O.J. Mayo on a fast break with the Mavericks trying to stop Brooklyn’s key third-quarter run.

“In the first half we kind of held him under control and then he knocked down a jumper and he was aggressive,” Dallas forward Elton Brand said. “You could see it in his eyes. He was going to shoot it no matter what. We all know about free agency and our fans and us recruiting him. We knew he wanted to play well here.”

Williams, who grew up in the Dallas area, got a smattering of boos during introductions and even fewer the first time he touched the ball. It wasn’t his first game against Dallas since last summer. The Mavericks started March — their best month of the season by far — with a 98-90 win in Brooklyn.

Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, who infamously attended a “Shark Tank” taping instead of joining the Dallas contingent when free agency opened, intentionally stayed away from Brooklyn when the Mavericks visited. He still wasn’t interested in Williams talk Wednesday.

“That’s old, old, old, old news,” Cuban said before the game.

Nets coach P.J. Carlesimo said he didn’t know if Williams was a little extra motivated against the team he turned down so he could move to Brooklyn from New Jersey with the Nets.

“But I’m sure he understands that you’re not going to expect intelligent statements from Mark, anyhow,” Carlesimo said.

The Nets were actually better without Williams in the first half. While he was sitting to start the second quarter, Brooklyn went on an 18-6 run for a 40-38 lead.

Andray Blatche scored 14 in the second quarter for Brooklyn on 6-of-6 shooting, and not all of them were easy. He hit three long jumpers, two of them over Nowitzki.

Game notes

Nowitzki surpassed the 9,000-rebound mark and became the 10th NBA player with at least 24,000 points and 9,000 boards. … Mavericks F Shawn Marion missed his eighth straight game with a left calf strain. … Nets F Kris Humphries was a game-time scratch with a bad back. It was the eighth straight game on the bench for the former Maverick. … The Mavericks spread the scoring wealth in the first half. Nowitzki, Chris Kaman and Mike James led with six points apiece, while Jae Crowder and Brandan Wright each had five.

The post Brook Lopez-Deron Williams tandem powers Nets past Mavs appeared first on IdealCapper.

Known more for his shot, the Minnesota Wild forward clanged a pair of line drives off the goal post, only to have the puck carom straight to teammates and result in two assists for Heatley.

That’s just how things have been going of late for the Wild, who scored a season-high four goals in the first period to beat the slumping Colorado Avalanche 6-4 on Saturday.

Even shots slightly off the mark eventually find their mark.

“I’ll take it,” Heatley said. “We have four lines rolling right now.”

The Wild sure do, with 11 players earning at least a point in this game. Devin Setoguchi led the way with two goals along with adding the 100th assist of his NHL career.

“Anytime you can get that, it’s fun,” Setoguchi said. “More importantly, I got my 100th and we got the win.”

Ryan Suter started a four-goal scoring spree in the first period to help the Wild win for the fourth time in five games. Cal Clutterbuck, Kyle Brodziak and Pierre-Marc Bouchard also added goals.

This was the second half of a home-and-home between the two teams, with Minnesota winning 5-3 on Thursday night.

John Mitchell, P.A. Parenteau, Gabriel Landeskog and Chuck Kobasew had goals for an Avalanche team that has dropped three in a row. Jean-Sebastien Giguere was roughed up in his first home start of the season, allowing four goals on 14 shots before giving way to Semyon Varlamov at the start of the second period.

Niklas Backstrom was solid in net, stopping 28 shots to move to 23-5-3 lifetime against the Avalanche.

Setoguchi all but wrapped up the win with his second goal midway through the third period when he slipped a shot through the pads of Varlamov. It was Setoguchi’s first two-goal game of the season.

“We’ve got such a big, strong team that can skate,” Setoguchi said. “It’s tough to defend.”

Kobasew scored with 1:53 remaining to make it a two-goal game, and the Avalanche pulled Varlamov but couldn’t take advantage of the extra skater.

Colorado worked its way back into the contest in the second period with goals from Parenteau and Landeskog. But the Avalanche made a costly mistake in their zone, when Landeskog tried to send a pass across the middle. Bouchard intercepted the puck and backhanded a shot by Varlamov to make it 5-3.

Landeskog lamented his poor choice after the game.

“Any team is going to capitalize on those chances,” the Avalanche captain said. “It’s deflating, especially because we battled back so hard and got back to 4-3 and then I throw that puck away. It’s frustrating.”

Time is slipping away for the Avalanche as they tumble farther and farther in the standings.

“We’ve got to figure it out here and start to work together,” said Duchene, who had two assists, giving him 10 points in his last five games. “It’s not effort and it’s not talent. We’ve got both of those. I think it’s just concentration. Everyone is so scared to make mistakes.”

The first period featured two fights, three roughing calls and two Wild goals before fans even had a chance to settle into their seats. Suter got Minnesota started on the right note with a shot over Giguere’s left shoulder.

Soon after, Setoguchi scored on a similar shot on a screened Giguere. Clutterbuck and Brodziak also added goals on “passes” from Heatley.

The four goals in the opening 20 minutes brought the day to an end for Giguere. He sat on the bench as Varlamov took his spot in goal.

Minnesota was without forward Jason Zucker for a second straight game. The rookie has what the team is calling an upper-body injury after a violent blindside collision with Corey Perry that brought the Anaheim right winger a four-game suspension.

Zucker is on the trip with the Wild and possibly could play Monday night in Vancouver against the Canucks, a team the Wild are chasing in the Northwest Division race.

“That’s our biggest challenge now,” Clutterbuck said. “I don’t think we expect to score four goals in the first period every game but we expect to play the same way every game.”

Game notes

Wild D Brett Clark was a scratch for a second straight game after being signed for the rest of the season on Thursday. Clark played five-plus seasons for Colorado. … Avs D Ryan Wilson (ankle) was a scratch. … Colorado dropped to 2-1 in day games this season. … Avs F Milan Hejduk was a scratch after returning to the lineup Thursday at Minnesota, his first game back after sitting out five straight with a torso injury.

The post Devin Setoguchi’s pair leads Wild’s outburst vs. Avs appeared first on IdealCapper.

Making his NHL debut, big defenseman Jarred Tinordi set up Tomas Plekanec’s tiebreaking goal in the third period, and the Canadiens extended their winning streak to five games with a 2-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Saturday night.

“What a start for the kid,” Canadiens coach Michel Therrien said of the 20-year-old son of former NHL defenseman Mark Tinordi. “We’re all pleased with the way he played the puck at net. It looked routine out there for him.

“He showed a lot of poise for his age and played very solid. He wasn’t nervous. He saw more ice time because you can see him become more comfortable. He made the right decisions.”

The best decision by Jarred Tinordi was understanding that goalie Johan Hedberg’s clearing pass from behind the net took a bad bounce off the sideboards and was heading to open ice above the left circle. The 6-foot-6 Tinordi skated toward the puck from the right side and let go a shot that Plekanec deflected past Hedberg at 6:49.

“I felt pretty comfortable out there,” said Tinordi, who played 19 shifts and almost 15 minutes just two days after being called up from Hamilton. “I think the nervousness and the butterflies were gone after the first couple of shifts.

“I tried not to think about the way I was playing. I knew we scored on the play. I didn’t realize I got an assist. The boys were pretty happy for me. I was just shooting it to get it on net.”

Hedberg said the goal was the type one would expect to decide a tight-checking game.

`We make that play 20 times a game, and sometimes the puck doesn’t want to go your way,” said Hedberg, who finished with 20 saves. “It came back to them and boom boom, it’s in the net. It was one of those games that comes down to a goal like that, and we were weren’t fortunate enough to get it.”

Colby Armstrong also scored for Montreal, and Carey Price made 32 saves. The Canadiens moved into a tie with Pittsburgh for the most points in the Eastern Conference.

Defenseman Peter Harrold scored for New Jersey, which lost for the second time in two nights (0-1-1).

“It’s a tough one to swallow, but their goalie played well and so did ours,” Devils forward Ilya Kovalchuk said.

Price was just a little bit better in making Plekanec’s 12th goal of the season stand up. He stopped 18 shots in the third period, including a chest save through traffic on Patrik Elias with 1:24 left and stoning Adam Henrique and Travis Zajac in close in the final minute.

“They put a little bit of a full-court press on us, but our guys battled hard all night,” Price said. “We’re working hard every night, trying to keep things simple. I think that’s the style of play we have to have. We have good teamwork and that’s what’s working for us.

“I think our team is excellent in coming back after I make a save, collapsing on everything I leave out there, cleaning up the trash. We’re sticking to the game plan and that makes it a lot easier.”

Playing for the third time in four nights, the Devils tied it 1-1 on Harrold’s power-play goal at 3:54 of the second period.

With Ryan White off for holding the stick, Kovalchuk intercepted a clearing pass at the right point and slid the puck across the ice to Harrold. The defenseman got a shot off quickly and squeezed it between Price’s pads for his first goal since Dec. 2, 2010 — a span of only 26 games for the journeyman, who has spent much of his career in the minor leagues.

Armstrong snapped a 39-game goal drought, dating to February 2012, to give the Canadiens the lead at 8:08 of the first period.

Devils defenseman Anton Volchenkov lost his footing shortly after a faceoff. Armstrong retrieved the puck, skated into the right circle and ripped a shot past Hedberg, who made his career-high 12 straight start in place of the injured Martin Brodeur.

Forward Mike Blunden, who grabbed an early-morning flight after being recalled from Hamilton, appeared to screen Hedberg on the play.

“You have to like the way the young guys played,” Canadiens captain Brian Gionta said. “They came through.”

Goal posts kept both teams from taking the lead during the same second-period penalty. Kovalchuk, who leads the NHL with four short-handed goals, just missed another on a 2-on-1 break while Harrold was in the penalty box.

Lars Eller beat Hedberg about a minute later, but that puck also struck a post.

Game notes

The Canadiens have scored first in 21 of 28 games. … Montreal RW Michael Ryder had his streak of 114 consecutive games played snapped because of a lower body injury. He last missed a game in March 2011. … Devils C Andrei Loktionov, who was hurt Friday against Philadelphia, sat out due to an undisclosed injury. … C Harri Pesonen made his NHL debut for New Jersey. .. Harrold was cut badly on the forehead by a shot in the third period, but returned to the game. … The Devils honored former goalie coach Jacques Caron before the game.

The post Jarred Tinordi sets up game-winning goal for Canadiens in NHL debut appeared first on IdealCapper.

“I wanted it so bad,” Fleury said. “I tried to not jinx it. I was touching wood, but yeah I was looking forward to getting it finally.”

The reeling Rangers offered little resistance.

Fleury stopped 23 shots for his 23rd shutout — one more than Tom Barrasso — and the Penguins beat New York 3-0 for their eighth straight victory.

Beau Bennett, Pascal Dupuis and Tyler Kennedy scored, and Dustin Jeffrey added two assists as the Penguins continued to dominate the series.

Pittsburgh has won seven consecutive meetings with New York, which lost for the fourth time in its last five games. Henrik Lundqvist made 24 saves for the Rangers, but New York failed to score for the third time this season. The Rangers, the best team in the Eastern Conference last spring, trail Pittsburgh by 14 points with six weeks left in the regular season and currently find themselves on the outside of the playoff picture looking in.

“It’s gut check time pretty much,” New York defenseman Dan Girardi said. “We’ve got to figure out what’s going on here and play with some serious desperation. We’re falling in the standings here.”

The Penguins continued to head in the opposite direction. Pittsburgh is in firm control of the Atlantic Division and in a race with Boston and Montreal for the conference’s best record thanks in part to a suddenly responsible defense.

The league’s most potent attack has a tendency to get a little loose with the puck from time to time, flubbing away turnovers that frequently put Fleury and backup Tomas Vokoun into tight spots. Those problems have disappeared in the last week. Pittsburgh has given up only four goals in its last four games and Fleury insists it’s not just by accident.

“For a while there we gave up a lot of goals but I think everybody kind of tightened up and we’re more conscious of our defensive zone, guys blocking shots and coming back in the zone to help out,” he said. “It’s been great for us.”

Fleury has been pretty good in his own right. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2003 NHL draft is 10-1 in his last 11 decisions and has back-to-back shutouts against the Rangers.

Then again, the Rangers hardly put up much of a fight. New York didn’t record a shot for the game’s first 10 minutes and save for a brief burst at the start of the second period spent most of the game on its heels while losing its third straight. The Rangers have scored just two goals during the skid.

“I thought today we were in mud, we really struggled, but we righted the ship,” New York coach John Tortorella said. “I thought we played a good second period. I thought we were in a good spot going into the third period.”

Not for long. Kennedy drew a tripping penalty from New York’s Anton Stralman then cashed in a minute later when he rocketed a one-timer from the left circle past Lundqvist.

Less than 60 seconds later it was 3-0 as Dupuis scored his 14th of the season. The Penguins clamped down over the final 12 minutes, the only drama surrounding Fleury’s pursuit of the shutout mark. New York only really came close to scoring once, when a Carl Hagelin wrist shot knuckled off Fleury’s midsection, fell to the ice and laid tantalizingly close to the goal line. Fleury managed to put his glove on it before it could trickle into the net.

“I think you need a little bit of good bounces here and there to get a shutout and definitely tonight that was a good one there,” Fleury said.

The Rangers spoke openly before the game about the need to get off to a strong start to offset disappointing losses Buffalo and Winnipeg. It didn’t happen.

Bennett gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead barely 90 seconds in, taking a nifty tap pass off the boards from Jeffrey and blistering a slap shot from right circle over Lundqvist’s shoulder. Only brilliant play from the New York goalie prevented things from getting any worse for the Rangers, who needed more than 10 minutes to get off a shot and spent most of the first 20 minutes in a general malaise.

“We wanted to have a big first period and get some energy and … we ended up watching them play in our own end,” Girardi said.

It happened all too often on a day the Penguins showcased how wide the gap between two teams with Stanley Cup expectations is at the moment.

“That’s why (the Penguins are) where they’re at right now,” Tortorella said. “They seize those opportunities and they make a couple of big plays and we haven’t gotten to our identity consistent enough.”

Game notes

Penguins C Evgeni Malkin did not skate on Saturday and he remains out with an undisclosed upper-body injury. Coach Dan Bylsma says there is no timetable on Malkin’s return. The reigning NHL MVP has missed the last four games and eight of Pittsburgh’s last 11 … Pittsburgh hosts the Boston Bruins on Sunday. The Rangers are off until Monday when they host Carolina. … The Rangers scratched D Stu Bickel and Matt Gilroy while the Penguins scratched D Deryk Engelland and Roberto Bortuzzo along with Malkin.

The post Advertisement Marc-Andre Fleury sets Penguins shutout record in win appeared first on IdealCapper.

Phoenix At Washington
When: 7:00 PM ET, Saturday, March 16, 2013
Where: Verizon Center, Washington, District of Columbia
TV: 7 p.m. ET, Fox Sports Arizona (Phoenix), Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic (Washington)
PREDICTION: Wizards 106, Suns 99

Oddsmakers currently have the Wizards listed as 6-point favorites versus the Suns, while the game’s total is sitting at 190.

Phoenix has struggled to a 7-27 road mark and is trying to salvage one win from its three-game road trip before heading home to face the Lakers on Monday. The Suns have to cut down on their 24 turnovers from Friday, most of which came from inexperienced post players. Point guard Goran Dragic (14.1 points, 6.9 assists) is the team’s focal point, but veteran center Jermaine O’Neal has played well recently, averaging 13.6 points over his past five games.

The Suns were a 107-94 loser in their most recent outing on the road against the Hawks. They failed to cover the 9-point spread as underdogs, while the total score (201) made winners of OVER bettors.

Phoenix:
Team record: 22-44 SU, 25-39-2 ATS
Current streak: lost 3 straight games.

is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing Washington
is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing on the road against Washington
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of last 7 games when playing Washington
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of last 7 games when playing on the road against Washington

When playing on Saturday are 6-4
Before playing LA Lakers are 3-7
After playing Atlanta are 4-6
After a loss are 3-7

The return of point guard John Wall (15.3 points, 7.5 assists) has had a lot to do with Washington’s turnaround, and one of the best games of his career Friday with 29 points and a rare hot shooting night. Wall has stepped up his output the past three games, averaging 26.3 points and 11 assists. It couldn’t come at a better time for the Wizards, who have been without rookie guard Bradley Beal (sprained left ankle) for the past six games. The Wizards also have a solid, if inconsistent, post duo in Nene (12.7 points, seven rebounds) and Emeka Okafor (9.4 points, 8.9 rebounds).

Washington was a 96-87 winner in its last match at home against the Hornets. They covered the 3.5-point spread as favorites, while the total score of 183 sent UNDER bettors to the payout window.

Washington:
Team record: 22-42 SU, 38-25-1 ATS
Current streak: won 2 straight games.

The total has gone UNDER in 6 of last 7 games when playing Phoenix
The total has gone UNDER in 9 of last 11 games
is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games at home
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of last 7 games when playing at home against Phoenix

When playing on Saturday are 3-7
Before playing Charlotte are 3-7
After playing New Orleans are 0-10
After a win are 6-4

The post Phoenix Suns vs. Washington Wizards Free Betting Pick & Matchup appeared first on IdealCapper.

The pained expression and the negative body language were the result of another Bulls loss, this one in embarrassing fashion.

Tyreke Evans had 26 points and seven assists in the Sacramento Kings’ most lopsided victory of the season, a 121-79 rout of the Bulls on Wednesday night.

The Kings opened the second quarter with a 26-4 run against the lethargic Bulls to hike their lead to 34 points. It was an almost error-free first half for the Kings, who committed just one turnover and took a 65-36 lead into intermission.

The Bulls have dropped a season-high five straight road games and have a 7-12 record since beating Milwaukee on Jan. 30. It was the most one-sided loss all season for Chicago and Sacramento’s largest margin of victory ever against the Bulls.

“It was embarrassing, man. It’s hard to put into words,” Bulls forward Carlos Boozer said.

Boozer will get no argument from Thibodeau. The Bulls shot 38 percent, missed 19 of 21 3-point attempts, and committed 17 turnovers.

However, what was not in the stat sheet afterward was effort. The Bulls were lacking in that department as well.

“Our level of intensity was very poor. Our readiness to play was very poor,” Thibodeau said. “But I’m probably most disappointed in me. It’s my job to have them ready. We can’t come out like that, that’s on me. I have to drive (them) harder and I will.”

Boozer scored 21 points and Nate Robinson had 19 for the slumping Bulls, who lost their second straight and fourth in five games.

Short-handed Chicago played without injured forward Taj Gibson (knee) and veteran guards Richard Hamilton (back) and Kirk Hinrich (foot), who are all out indefinitely.

“We’re not playing well offensively or defensively,” said Joakim Noah, who had six points and nine rebounds. “It’s no time to make excuses (about injuries). We need to find a way to bounce back. We just have to move on fast and get ready for Golden State (on Friday). They are a lot better team than this team (the Kings).”

The Kings shot 54 percent, had a season-low five turnovers and scored 27 fast-break points. According to Elias Sports Bureau, it was the Kings’ largest margin of victory since Jan. 2, 1993, when they beat the Philadelphia 76ers 154-98.

Making his first start of the season, Patrick Patterson had 14 points and nine rebounds, and Jason Thompson had 12 points for the Kings, who snapped a five-game losing streak against Chicago.

“I was just picking and popping and my teammates were finding opportunities for me,” said Patterson, who came to the Kings in a February trade with Houston. “I was just being in the right place at the right time.”

At least for one game, it mattered very little that Sacramento played without DeMarcus Cousins, the Kings’ leading scorer and rebounder. He missed the game due to a sore left knee.

Cousins picked up his 12th technical foul of the season and was ejected from Sunday’s game against Milwaukee after picking up a Flagrant 2 for elbowing Mike Dunleavy in the head.

Though there was speculation Cousins would be suspended by the NBA and miss the game, the volatile center was spared of his third league suspension this season.

“We just opened the court up a little more (with Cousins out) and had our guards attack,” guard Isaiah Thomas said. “We were in attack mode from the jump. We know they’re a great defensive team and we wanted to just stay back in attack mode. I think Tyreke started it off and that got me going a little bit, then other people got going.”

There was no letting up in the third quarter for the Kings, who didn’t allow the Bulls to cut into their 29-point deficit. Thomas had 11 points and continued to push the tempo for Sacramento, which took a 93-60 lead into the fourth.

Evans had 18 points in the first half, when the Kings shot 58 percent. Sacramento began the second quarter with an 11-2 run and the lead remained in double figures the remainder of the game.

“It’s not so much the winning or losing right now, it’s the way we’re playing,” Noah said. “Is it the readiness? I wish I knew.”

It was a horrible first half at both ends of the court for the Bulls, who shot 35 percent, committed eight turnovers, and allowed 15 fast-break points. Boozer was the only bright spot for Chicago with 16 points.

Patterson helped get the Kings off to a fast start, making all five shots and scoring 11 first-quarter points. Sacramento shot 65 percent in the opening quarter and led 34-20.

“We need to get our swag back; get our confidence back,” Boozer said. “The only people that can fix it are in this room. (Maybe) we need a game like this to wake us up. The playoffs will be here in the blink of an eye.”

Game notes

Former league MVP Derrick Rose worked out before the game. Rose, who tore his anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee last April, is still contemplating a return to the Bulls this season. . Evans has averaged 23.7 points in his last three games. . Kings reserve forward James Johnson missed his second straight game due to personal reasons. . Attendance was 14,426. … Marco Belinelli missed all nine shots for the Bulls, including five 3-point attempts.

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Roy, who missed five games with a groin injury, will be available Monday night at Colorado. Nilstorp and defenseman Jordie Benn have been sent to the Texas Stars of the American Hockey League.

Nilstorp’s assignment means Richard Bachman will remain the backup to Kari Lehtonen.

Roy has two assists in four games for Dallas. He came over in an offseason trade with Buffalo. Benn is scoreless with four penalty minutes in eight games for Dallas.

Nilstorp missed four games with a groin injury. He was 0-2 filling in for Lehtonen. Nilstorp appeared in 28 games for the Texas Stars before joining Dallas after the lockout ended.

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Creighton at Southern Illinois
When: 8:00 PM ET, Sunday, January 27, 2013
Where: SIU Arena, Carbondale, Illinois
TV: 8 p.m. ET, ESPNU
Prediction: Creighton 78, Southern Illinois 52

Oddsmakers currently have the Bluejays listed as 11-point favorites versus the Salukis, while the game’s total is sitting at 138.

Nearly lost in the disappointment of the most recent loss was the play of senior guard Grant Gibbs, who scored a season-high 18 points to go with eight assists, five rebounds and four steals. Gibbs has surpassed his season scoring average (7.9) in each of the last three games. Southern Illinois might have trouble matching up with 6-9 senior center Gregory Echinique. He has tailed off this month, averaging 5.6 points in the last five games after averaging 13 in the previous eight, but the Salukis lack the height to get in his way.

Creighton lost its last outing, a 74-69 result against Drake on January 23. They failed to cover in that game as a 9.5-point favorite.

Team record: 17-3 SU, 12-6 ATS
Current streak: lost 2 straight games.
The total has gone OVER in 6 of last 7 games when playing on the road against Southern Illinois
is 5-0-1 ATS in its last 6 games when playing on the road against Southern Illinois
is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing on the road against Southern Illinois
is 16-6 SU in its last 22 games on the road
When playing on Sunday are 8-2
Before playing Missouri State are 9-1
After playing Drake are 8-2
After a loss are 6-4

Desmar Jackson is averaging a team-high 16.3 points. The 6-5 senior guard had one of his best games in an 82-76 loss to Wichita State on Jan. 9, scoring 28 points on 10-for-19 shooting. Southern Illinois has dropped eight consecutive games against Top 25 opponents overall, losing by an average of 15.2 points. Who steps up to guard McDermott should also be interesting. The Salukis have just one player taller than 6-6, and 6-9 junior forward Davante Drinkard averages 11.6 minutes.

Southern Illinois lost its last outing, a 58-45 result against Northern Iowa on January 23. They failed to cover in that game as a 11-point underdog.

Team record: 8-11 SU, 8-8 ATS
Current streak: lost 3 straight games.
The total has gone OVER in 6 of last 7 games when playing at home against Creighton
The total has gone OVER in 4 of last 5 games when playing Creighton
is 3-6 ATS in its last 9 games
is 1-5 SU in its last 6 games when playing at home against Creighton
When playing on Sunday are 6-4
Before playing Drake are 2-8
After playing Northern Iowa are 5-5
After a loss are 4-6

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