Chicago tops Wild, sets club mark with ninth straight win

Hockey Betting Lines

12/28/2008 - St. Paul, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dustin Byfuglien scored twice, and the Chicago Blackhawks extended their winning streak to a franchise-best nine games with a 4-1 win over the Minnesota Wild.

The Blackhawks had previously won eight in a row twice before: from January 4-21, 1981 and December 9-26, 1971. They also improved their record in December to 10-0-1.

Byfuglien added two assists, while Martin Havlat tallied a goal for the Blackhawks, who will try for 10 straight wins at Detroit on Tuesday. Cristobal Huet made 18 saves in the win.

Cal Clutterbuck scored the lone goal for the Wild, who have lost eight of 10. The Wild registered just 19 shots on goal, and Niklas Backstrom allowed three goals on 31 shots to take the loss.

Byfuglien got the Blackhawks on the board first, putting a backhand past Backstrom a little more than seven minutes into the game.

Just over two minutes later on the power play, Byfuglien tipped a shot out of mid-air and past Backstrom to give Chicago a 2-0 lead.

The Blackhawks increased their lead to three after a power play chance expired in the second period. With Minnesota still scrambling to get all five of its players back in the defensive end, Havlat took a pass from Brian Campbell in the slot and snuck it by Backstrom with 5:52 left in the frame.

Clutterbuck got the Wild on the board early in the third, blasting a wrister over Huet's left shoulder at the 2:47 mark of the final period.

Minnesota would get no closer, however, as Kris Versteeg's empty net goal with four seconds left in the game sealed the victory for Chicago.

Game Notes

Minnesota had won 10 of the previous 13 meetings with Chicago...The Blackhawks will also host Detroit on New Year's Day at Wrigley Field in the NHL's annual Winter Classic...Chicago forward Andrew Ladd's six- game point streak came to an end, while Patrick Kane's five-game point streak also ended...Jonathan Toews and Versteeg each had two assists for the Blackhawks.

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Online Sportsbook Football Betting

LaDainian Tomlinson Favorite to be 2007 NFL MVP

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Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.