Kings get chance to be spoilers

Hockey Betting Lines

02/20/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - While the Los Angeles Kings are all but out of this year's playoff race, they will get an opportunity to put a damper on some other team's chances as well.

This past weekend, the Kings managed to split a home-and-home series with the Pacific-leading Anaheim Ducks. Both games went to a shootout with the Kings' win coming on the Ducks' home ice Sunday.

Los Angeles also posted a win over the conference-leading Nashville Predators last Saturday and over the next two weeks will face Vancouver, which currently leads the Northwest Division, and a Colorado squad fighting for its playoff lives. The Kings will also again play Anaheim and Nashville in that span.

All four of those tilts will be at home for the Kings where they are 11-12-8 as of Tuesday. Los Angeles, though, has lost six in a row at home with its last win at the Staples Center coming on January 6 against Detroit.

The Kings are just 7-14-3 in divisional games this year, but if they can score some wins over the Ducks and Sharks, the teams currently first and second in the Pacific respectively, it will create some nice rivalries within the standings and give the Kings some confidence and momentum heading into division play next year.

Los Angeles also made a move to help its team out in the long run as they inked 33-year-old center Derek Armstrong to a two-year contract extension last Wednesday.

Armstrong has 10 goals and a career-high 30 assists in 55 games so far this year and is a stabilizing force on the ice with a plus-16 rating. His veteran knowledge should help the Kings' young players develop as the club rebuilds.

Armstrong has played in 327 career games with the Kings, New York Rangers, Ottawa Senators and New York Islanders, scoring 58 goals and picking up 115 assists.

On the injury front, captain Mattias Norstrom missed his first game of the season when he sat out Sunday's win over the Ducks with a knee injury. The defenseman has just two goals and seven assists in 60 games and is a career- worse minus-17 on the season.

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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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