Briere's OT goal boosts Buffalo over Edmonton

Hockey Betting Lines

02/16/2007 - Buffalo, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Daniel Briere scored the winning goal 1:02 into overtime, as the Eastern Conference-leading Buffalo Sabres got their fourth consecutive victory by beating the Edmonton Oilers, 2-1, at HSBC Arena.

With the score deadlocked a minute into overtime, Edmonton streaked into the Buffalo zone, but had it taken away. The Sabres got a 2-on-1 break, which then became a 3-on-1 attack, as Briere pulled the puck away from a sprawling Toby Petersen, and ripped it over Dwayne Roloson's right shoulder for the winning goal.

Maxim Afinogenov also scored for the Sabres, whose last three triumphs in the current winning streak have come at the beginning of a season-long six-game homestand. Ryan Miller stopped 27 shots for the Sabres, who have won six straight on home ice and are 20-7-2 as the host club this season.

Despite the close win, the injuries continued to pile up for Buffalo. Afinogenov suffered an upper body injury just prior to scoring his goal, and Jiri Novotny suffered a left ankle injury, neither of whom returned.

Last Saturday, defenseman Jaroslav Spacek broke his left hand while blocking a shot against the Flames. Also, forward Paul Gaustad will miss the remainder of the season after suffering an ankle injury earlier in the week.

Shawn Horcoff scored for the Oilers, who are in the midst of a season-high seven-game road trip, which started on a down note with a shutout in Boston on Tuesday. Roloson stopped 29-of-31 shots for Edmonton.

The Oilers drew first blood when Horcoff unleashed a snap shot from the left circle top shelf, glove side with 12:58 remaining in the first, and held that edge at the first intermission.

With 1:56 left in the second period, Thomas Vanek missed from the left circle, and the puck banked off Roloson's chest. Afinogenov gathered the rebound and snapped the puck into the net from just above the crease to tie the score.

Game Notes

Neither team utilized the man advantage, as Buffalo was 0-for-3 on the power play, while Edmonton finished 0-for-1...The Sabres and Oilers last met on January 16 of last season in Edmonton and Buffalo earned a 3-1 victory. However, the Oilers are 6-2-2 in the last 10 matchups and lost for the first time in their last seven trips to Buffalo.

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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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