Wild fend off Oilers in battle of playoff-hopefuls

Hockey Betting Lines

03/29/2009 - Edmonton, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Marian Gaborik scored the game-winning goal and dished out an assist, as the Minnesota Wild edged the Edmonton Oilers, 3-2, in a battle between two playoff-hopeful teams at Rexall Place.

Andrew Brunette and Martin Skoula also lit the lamp for the Wild, who ended a four-game road trip with a 2-2-0 mark. Owen Nolan had two assists for the victors. Niklas Backstrom stopped 31 shots to improve to 34-23-7 on the year.

Center Mikko Koivu returned to the lineup after missing three games with a knee injury.

Minnesota sits in the 11th spot in the Western Conference with 80 points. The Wild are three points behind St. Louis for the eighth and final playoff spot.

Ales Kotalik and Fernando Pisani scored for the Oilers, who have dropped four of their past five outings. Dwayne Roloson turned aside 18 shots in the loss.

Since Anaheim beat Colorado on Sunday, Edmonton dropped to 10th in the West with 81 points.

Trailing 2-0, the Oilers cut the deficit in half on a goal from Pisani just 1:04 into the third stanza. Ethan Moreau charged down the right side of the ice and made his way behind the net before dumping the puck off to Pisani out front. Pisani chipped the disc between Backstrom's pads.

Gaborik lit the lamp just over three minutes later to extend Minnesota's margin back to two. Gaborik's wrister from the left circle beat Roloson glove- side during a delayed penalty.

Kotalik and Hemsky teamed up to cut the gap to 3-2 with 4:52 to play. Hemsky set Kotalik up for a one-timer from the left circle. And Kotalik's shot went sailing past Backstrom on the stick side.

The Oilers pulled Roloson with about one minute left to gain the extra attacker. But Backstrom and the Wild defense held strong to secure the victory.

The Wild drew first blood at the 7:01 mark of the first period on Brunette's 20th goal of the year. The puck was slowly sliding in front of Roloson after Gaborik fanned on a shot. Brunette collected the disc and fired a backhander past Roloson.

Less than two minutes later, Skoula's slap shot from the left point snuck through the five-hole of Roloson to give the visitors an early 2-0 lead.

Both teams had nine shots on goal during a scoreless second stanza.

Game Notes

Both teams went 0-for-3 on the power play...Minnesota had lost their previous four games in Edmonton...Minnesota won the season series with Edmonton, 4-2.

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Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds

Super Bowl XLIII, the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

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Pittsburgh earned their passage to the big game by beating their division rival, the Baltimore Ravens, 23-14 in yesterday's AFC Championship Game. The Steelers jumped on Baltimore early, building a 13-0 first half lead, and never let up on their way to a fairly easy win. Although the Ravens did close to within two points in the fourth quarter, it never appeared as if they had enough offense to pull off the upset.

The Steelers dominating defense held Baltimore to a total of 198 yards while allowing them to convert just three third downs in 13 attempts. Pittsburgh also forced quarterback Joe Flacco into three interceptions, one of which safety Troy Polamalu returned fourty yards for a touchdown.

The Cardinals, by far the playoff team with the longest odds to reach Super Bowl XLIII, did so yesterday with a 32-25 upset of the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship. Arizona charged out of the gates and built a 24-6 halftime lead that had the Eagles venerable defense reeling. Quarterback Kurt Warner and wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald did most of the damage, connecting on three first half touchdowns.

Arizona, however, could not sustain their momentum and the Eagles took a 25-24 with 10:45 left to play in the fourth. The Cardinals, with the franchise's first Super Bowl appearance hanging in the balance, mounted a fourteen play, 72 yard touchdown drive that consumed 7:52 off the clock. Warner hit running back Tim Hightower on a short screen for the go-ahead, game clinching score that will forever live in Cardinal infamy.

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