Islanders hope to halt skid in home test with Leafs

Hockey Betting Lines

12/26/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Islanders will try to earn their first win in nearly a month when they welcome the Toronto Maple Leafs for tonight's battle at Nassau Coliseum.

The Isles last tasted victory on November 29 when they beat Ottawa but have since lost 10 straight contests, going 0-9-1 during the slide. It's the longest losing streak for New York since it also dropped 10 straight from December 22, 1997 to January 10, 1998.

The club hasn't been defeated in 11 straight tests since March 16-April 5, 1996. The team record skid is 12, established during the inaugural 1972-73 season and equaled during the 1988-89 campaign.

New York's most-recent setback came Tuesday night against the visiting Atlanta Thrashers. Bryan Little scored twice, including the go-ahead power-play tally in the third period, as the Thrashers beat the Isles, 4-2.

Andy Hilbert and Sean Bergenheim had the goals for the Islanders, who are last in the Eastern Conference and the NHL with just 23 points on the season.

Joey MacDonald made 23 saves in the losing effort for the Islanders. New York played without centerman Doug Weight, who is battling a groin injury. Weight, who leads the Isles with 29 points, is questionable for tonight's contest.

The Islanders are just 5-9-2 as the visiting team this year and have lost four of their last five on Long Island.

Toronto, meanwhile, will be trying to rebound from a lopsided loss when it takes the ice tonight.

The Maple Leafs had won five of six games heading into Tuesday's home tilt against Dallas, but were slammed by the Stars, 8-2. Rookie James Neal recorded his first-career hat trick to lead the Stars to the blowout victory at Air Canada Centre.

Jason Blake and Mikhail Grabovski tallied for Toronto, which had won two in a row but set a season-high in goals allowed.

Vesa Toskala started in net for the Maple Leafs, but allowed seven goals on 27 shots and was removed in favor of Curtis Joseph, who stopped 9-of-10 shots.

Tonight's test marks the first of two straight on the road for Toronto, which is 8-8-2 as the visiting club this year. The Leafs have won three of their last four road tests and will also visit the Washington Capitals on Monday.

Toronto earned a home win over the Isles on December 8 in the first of four meetings between the clubs this season. The Leafs have taken the last two encounters, but New York has won five of eight overall in the series. The Isles have also won six of eight matchups at the Coliseum.

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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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