Penguins aim to rebound against struggling Bruins

Hockey Betting Lines

02/04/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pittsburgh Penguins had their hot streak doused Wednesday in Toronto and will try to get back in the win column when they visit the struggling Boston Bruins in today's game at TD Garden.

The Penguins had posted their season-high eighth straight win Tuesday against the visiting Maple Leafs, notching a 5-4 shootout win at Consol Energy Center. Pittsburgh erased a three-goal deficit in the third period to win that contest and Evgeni Malkin scored with just 6.6 seconds left in regulation to send the game into overtime. Malkin also provided the winning tally in the shootout.

Wednesday's finale of the home-and-home did not go as well, however, as Toronto shut down Pittsburgh's offensive attack in a 1-0 decision at Air Canada Centre. It was the first loss for the Penguins since Jan. 11, when they were also dealt a 1-0 loss by Washington.

Pittsburgh fired 25 shots at James Reimer on Wednesday and he stopped all of them to post his second shutout of the year. Clarke MacArthur netted the game's lone score for the Maple Leafs.

Brent Johnson earned his first start in net for Pittsburgh since Jan. 10 and he played well in defeat, making 23 saves for the Penguins. No. 1 netminder Marc-Andre Fleury is expected to be back in net today for the Pens.

"I'm obviously disappointed in the loss, but it's definitely a step in the right direction," said Johnson, who hasn't won since December 3 and was pulled from his previous two starts. "I tried to simplify things out there and things were working pretty well tonight. I felt confident, felt good."

Pittsburgh is 14-11-2 as the guest this year and is playing the second tilt of a four-game road trip today. The Pens will also visit New Jersey tomorrow afternoon before capping the swing Tuesday night in Montreal.

Penguins forwards Sidney Crosby (neck) and Jordan Staal (knee) and defenseman Simon Despres (lower body) have been skating recently, but there is still no word on when any of them will return to game action. Crosby, of course, was diagnosed with soft tissue damage in his neck earlier this week, which seems to be an improvement from the post-concussion symptoms that the team believed was preventing him from playing.

The Bruins have dropped two of their last three games and have posted a 6-5-1 record over the last few weeks. Boston is still leading the Northeast Division with 66 points and is just three points behind the New York Rangers for the top spot in the East.

Boston's struggles against Carolina continued in its last trip to the ice, as the Bruins dropped a 3-0 home decision against the Hurricanes on Thursday. That setback allowed the Hurricanes, who are tied for last in the East, to sweep the four meetings with the B's this season.

The Bruins simply could not solve Hurricanes goaltender Cam Ward on Thursday, as they fired 47 shots at the former Conn Smythe winner and he turned aside every one of them. Tuukka Rask made 28 saves for the Bruins, who have alternated wins and losses in their last 10 games.

"We have to understand that we are not that great of a team when we go out there and just play through the motions," said Boston head coach Claude Julien. "The reality is that right now we are playing like a team that is at the bottom of the standings, not near the top."

The Bruins are 17-8-2 as the host this year and are completing a three-game homestand this afternoon.

Boston and the Pens have met just once this season when the B's posted a 3-1 victory in Pittsburgh on Dec. 5. The Bruins have won three of five overall in this series, but the Pens have taken three straight in Beantown.

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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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