12/01/2008 - St. Paul, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Paul Stastny had two goals and an assist, and capped a Colorado scoring binge with the eventual game-winner late in a four- goal second period as the Avalanche topped the Minnesota Wild, 6-5, at Xcel Energy Center.
Milan Hejduk also notched three points with two helpers and a goal in the second, where Stastny tallied both his markers as well. T.J. Hensick also lit the lamp in the middle stanza as Colorado erased a 3-2 deficit with the second-period outburst before having to hold on.
Peter Budaj was victimized for five goals on just 17 shots, but got the win behind a barrage for an Avalanche squad that has had trouble scoring this season.
"We got a couple good bounces, some nice passes -- we just kept going," Stastny said of the offensive breakout. "We're back to .500 and we have two days before the next game so we'll enjoy this one."
Colorado began a three-game road trip Monday, albeit in bizarre fashion, and is now 6-7-0 as the visiting team this year.
Pierre-Marc Bouchard had two goals and an assist while Mikko Koivu had two assists and a goal for Minnesota, which had won two straight and three of its last four games coming in.
Niklas Backstrom allowed a career-high six goals on 26 shots before Josh Harding took over for the third period, stopping all five shots he faced.
The Wild, still one point back of first-place Vancouver in the Northwest Division, is 7-5-1 at home this year and kicked off a three-game residency Monday. Vancouver suffered a 3-2 setback to Columbus earlier Monday.
Following a first period that featured four goals, Bouchard opened the middle frame with a power-play goal just 22 seconds in, banking the puck off a defender from the right of the net and in for a 3-2 lead.
Stastny then found the net for the first time by chipping in a backhander from the low slot, up and over Backstrom, tying the game 3-3 at the 3:49 mark.
The Avs proceeded to rattle of three straight scores. Hejduk picked off an errant Wild pass along the left boards and charged in on net -- firing a wrister up and over the left shoulder of Backstrom at 8:16.
Minnesota turned it over again, this time in the neutral zone, and Hensick broke in on net -- sliding the disc between the legs of Backstrom for a 5-3 game.
Ryan Smyth faked a shot and went right around a Wild defender -- cutting across the goal-mouth from the right for a shot that was blocked off by Backstrom -- but Stastny swooped in and buried the rebound with 2:09 left in the period to gain a three-goal lead. The tally came just 79 seconds after Hensick's goal.
The Wild got one back in that short span with Owen Nolan taking a centering feed from Andrew Brunette with the man advantage and firing a shot past Budaj through traffic for a 6-4 game after two periods.
Brent Burns made it a 6-5 game by cutting around a defender at the left circle and toward the net -- carrying the puck into the crease where it deflected off Budaj and in.
Minnesota put together a late flurry of chances -- even putting one past Budaj -- but several ticks past zero and the Avs skated off with the win.
"Some nights you struggle and those are the games you have to find a way to battle through," Koivu said. "I think in the third we did a good job with that -- but it just didn't happen tonight."
Bouchard started the barrage with his fourth of the season 5:50 into the contest but Marek Svatos tied things up just over three minutes later. David Jones netted his third of the season to put the Avs back in front with 7:17 left in the frame, but Kim Johnsson's shot from the high slot on a power play gave Koivu a perfect rebound to slam home, tying the game 2-2 after one.
Game Notes
The Avalanche got their first win in Minnesota since January 6, 2007...Colorado lost a 3-1 home decision to the Wild back on November 6...Minnesota came into Monday's contest second in the NHL on the power play at 24 percent (24-for-100) and went 3-for-4 with the man advantage, improving to 25.9 percent...The Avs played without Joe Sakic for the ninth time in 12 games due to a lingering back issue. He returned to the lineup on Friday against the Coyotes, but didn't play much and then sat out Saturday's 4-3 win over Tampa Bay. Sakic did not accompany Colorado to Minnesota and is out indefinitely...Colorado was without defenseman Adam Foote, who was placed on injured reserve on Saturday due to back and knee issues.
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LaDainian Tomlinson Favorite to be 2007 NFL MVP
With the first NFL preseason game less than two weeks away, it is time to start thinking about football once again at MySportsbook.com. Reigning NFL MVP LaDainian Tomlinson is currently the 5-1 co-favorite to win the award again alongside Super Bowl MVP Peyton Manning.
This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone after his all out assault on the record books last season. For those suffering from amnesia or were under a rock last football season, all L.T. did last season was set the NFL record for rushing touchdowns (28), total touchdowns (31) and total points scored (186) to go along with his 1815 rushing yards and 508 receiving yards. At 6-1, Tom Brady is next in line which isn’t surprising considering all of the firepower the Pats added over the off-season. With the addition of Randy Moss, Donte Stallworth and Wes Welker; it would be quite difficult for Brady’s numbers not to improve from last years 3529 yards and 24 touchdowns. There appears to be some decent value in Drew Bees at 10-1 considering he probably would have won the award last year if it wasn’t for L.T.’s record breaking season.
There is no reason to think the Saints will come back to earth this season and playing in a weak NFC, they should have as good a shot as any to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl. At 15-1, Donovan McNabb could also be worth a look. Remember, many felt he was the MVP of the first half of the season before going down with a season ending injury. Reportedly, he is in great shape and well ahead of schedule to return to form. Also, he could have some added motivation to put up big numbers this season with the Eagles using their first pick in the draft on McNabb’s future successor Kevin Kolb.
Be sure to log on to MySportsbook.com to check out the complete odds for NFL MVP as well as all of the new football related futures. With the popularity of NFL futures, these betting lines will be sure to change as the money comes in; get the early sports lines now.
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