Hejduk nets hat trick as Avs burn Flames

Hockey Betting Lines

02/16/2007 - Calgary, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Milan Hejduk's hat trick propelled the Colorado Avalanche to a come-from-behind 7-5 victory over the Calgary Flames, in the opener of back-to-back contests between the teams at Pengrowth Saddledome.

Joe Sakic scored twice, including his 600th career goal, and also added three assists for the Avalanche, winners in two straight and three of five.

Andrew Brunette notched a goal and two assists, Brett Clark added a goal and one assist, and both Brad Richardson and Karlis Skrastins had a pair of helpers.

Jose Theodore picked up the win, stopping eight-of-nine shots in relief of starter Peter Budaj. Budaj was pulled after giving up four goals on 20 shots in just over 35 minutes of action.

Jarome Iginla posted two goals and for the Flames, who have dropped five of their last six. Alex Tanguay picked up three assists, Craig Conroy had a goal and two helpers, and Matt Lombardi tallied twice.

Roman Hamrlik chipped in a pair of assists and Miikka Kiprusoff took the loss, stopping 29-of-35 shots.

Both teams face-off again on Saturday in Calgary, then once more next Tuesday in Denver.

After a see-saw contest resulted in a 5-5 deadlock, Hejduk put the Avs up 6-5 with 9:44 to go, completing his third-career three-goal game with a pretty deflection of Ken Klee's right-point drive for his 21st goal of the season.

Sakic then made history as the 17th player to reach the 600-goal plateau with an empty-net clincher 10 seconds before the final buzzer, giving the Avs a hard-fought victory.

It was a must-win contest for Colorado, which sits in last place in the Northwest Division, and which started the game 10 points behind Calgary.

Iginla notched his 26th of the season at 9:48 of the opening period with a blistering one-timer from the left faceoff dot off a perfect pass by former Avs forward Tanguay.

Conroy followed a little more than two minutes later by putting home the rebound of Tanguay's shot from just outside the crease for a 2-0 Flames advantage.

Sakic brought the Avs within 2-1 with 21 seconds left in the first, one- timing a centering pass by Brunette and slamming it through Kiprusoff.

Brunette and Sakic teamed up to tie the game at 2-2 with 5:47 played in the second period. Sakic held the puck behind the Flames' net unchallenged for almost 10 seconds before moving in front and centering to Brunette, who tapped the puck home from the opposite side of the crease.

Under two minutes later, Calgary was back on top 3-2 as Lombardi outraced two Avalanche players down the left side, crossed through the slot to pull Budaj way out of the net, and slid a backhander into a wide-open net.

Iginla then unleashed another one-timer off a Tanguay feed for a 4-2 Calgary lead with 4:51 left in the period, and Budaj gave way to Theodore.

Colorado was jolted to life following the switch, and rallied once again to tie the game, 4-4 by the end of the period.

With 2:27 to go, and Dion Phaneuf in the penalty box, Hejduk roofed a shot from the top of the left circle to bring the Avs back within a goal -- with help from Sakic and Brunette once again. The Czech sniper struck again with 42.7 seconds remaining, banking a rolling puck from behind the goal line off Kiprusoff's leg and into the cage.

After completing a two-goal rally to knot the game after 40 minutes of play, Clark registered Colorado's fifth goal of the night on a disputed call 6:54 into the third.

The defenseman let an off-balance shot go from the slot which trickled past Kiprusoff and wobbled towards the net. The puck appeared to make it all the way over the goal line before Flames defenseman Rhett Warrener swept it out with his stick, but play continued as the nearest official waved it off.

Upon review, the goal was allowed and the Avalanche took their first lead of the night.

Calgary came right back for a 5-5 tie as a failed clearing attempt caromed off the right-side boards and also hit forward Wayne Primeau before Lombardi corralled the disc in the slot, where he blew a 30-footer past Theodore at 8:51.

Game Notes

The Avalanche broke a five-game losing streak against the Flames, winning for the first time this season, and Colorado also improved to 29-23-8 overall against Calgary since 1995-96...Colorado placed veteran forward Pierre Turgeon on injured reserve before the contest...Sakic's goals were his 34th and 35th career tallies against the Flames, the most he has scored against any one team...Hejduk's last trifecta came on March 8, 2004 in a 9-2 win over Vancouver...Avs forward Brad May also picked up two assists.

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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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Huskers' Lucky hospitalized for undisclosed reason

LINCOLN, Neb. -- Nebraska running back Marlon Lucky was hospitalized Monday for undisclosed reasons after Lincoln police responded to a call at his residence.

The Nebraska athletic department said in a release Monday that Lucky was admitted Sunday night.

MySportsbook.com has the Cornhuskers listed at +2500 to win the BCS National Championship odds.

A nursing supervisor at the hospital said all questions about Lucky were being referred to the athletic department. The athletic department said there would be no further comment from the department or Lucky's family.

A Lincoln Police spokesman said officers responded to a call at Lucky's residence 11:30 p.m. Sunday. The spokesman said he didn't know Lucky's condition at the time he was taken to the hospital.

Lucky, from North Hollywood, Calif., started six games last season as a sophomore and was the team's second-leading rusher, with 728 yards and six touchdowns. He also caught 32 passes for 383 yards. He averaged 19.1 yards on eight kickoff returns.

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