Blues aim to bounce back against visiting Isles

Hockey Betting Lines

02/16/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Blues will try to rebound from just their third regulation loss of 2012 when they host the New York Islanders tonight at Scottrade Center.

St. Louis has gone 13-3-2 since the start of January and one of the few games that ended without the Blues gaining a point came in a 2-1 loss at Columbus on Tuesday. The Blues hope to get back on track tonight in the Gateway City, where they've set a club record for most consecutive home games with a point, going 16-0-3 since a 5-2 loss to Chicago on Dec. 3. St. Louis is 24-3-4 at home on the season.

In general, not much has gone wrong for the Blues since they fired head coach Davis Payne and replaced him with Ken Hitchcock back in early November. The club has posted a 28-8-7 record since the coaching change and the Blues haven't lost consecutive games in regulation since Hitchcock took over. That could change tonight, as St. Louis tries to avoid its first 0-2 stretch since it lost in Calgary and Edmonton on Oct. 28 and 30, respectively.

St. Louis is currently the fourth seed in the Western Conference and is three points ahead of Nashville for that distinction. The Blues are also five points behind Detroit for first place in the Central Division.

The Blues fired 32 shots at Steve Mason on Tuesday and only one found its way past the Columbus goaltender. Derek Dorsett scored the game-winning goal for the Blue Jackets at 6:49 of the third period.

David Backes scored the lone goal for St. Louis, which had a four-game winning streak stopped. Jaroslav Halak turned away 31-of-33 shots in defeat.

"We got outplayed for two periods," Hitchcock said. "We outplayed them in the first, but they outplayed us badly in the second and third. They were the better team today."

On the injury front, the Blues have played the last six games without Jason Arnott (shoulder), but the veteran forward is expected to return tonight. Meanwhile, fellow forward Matt D'Agostini has sat out four in a row with a head injury and will miss another game tonight.

The Islanders have posted a 5-2-1 record over their last eight games, as they continue to fight for a spot in the playoffs. With 56 points, New York is currently eight behind Toronto for the East's eighth and final postseason berth.

Evgeni Nabokov was the main reason behind a New York win in its last trip to the ice, as the veteran goaltender stopped 37 shots to help lift the Islanders to Tuesday's 3-1 victory in Winnipeg. The Russian netminder is 8-3 with a 1.56 goals-against average in his last 11 games and he could land a nice price if New York decides to deal him before the Feb. 27 trade deadline.

P.A. Parenteau had a goal and an assist on Tuesday, while Matt Martin and Matt Moulson also scored for the Islanders.

New York has won four straight and six of its last seven road games, improving its record as the guest this season to 12-11-3.

The Isles and Blues have each won three games in their last six meetings against each other. St. Louis has taken two of the last three encounters at Scottrade Center, but the Isles have six wins in their previous eight trips to Missouri.

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Big East Conference odds

Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence

Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.

Work left to do:

Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.

Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.

DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...

West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.

Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.

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