Brodziak, Roloson help Oilers top Maple Leafs

Hockey Betting Lines

03/07/2009 - Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dwayne Roloson was sensational between the pipes, stopping 39 shots, as the Edmonton Oilers scored four unanswered goals to beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-1, at Air Canada Centre.

Kyle Brodziak tallied twice, while Ales Hemsky and Fernando Pisani also lit the lamp for the Oilers, who improved to 1-1-1 on an important four-game road trip. Roloson collected his 23rd victory of the season.

Alexei Ponikarovsky had the lone goal for the Maple Leafs, who had recorded at least a point in their previous eight games (5-0-3). Newly-acquired goaltender Martin Gerber stopped 14 shots in his first defeat with Toronto.

The former Ottawa Senator turned aside 37-of-38 shots in his Toronto debut on Thursday. Gerber collected the win as the Maple Leafs claimed a 2-1 road triumph over an Alexander Ovechkin-less Washington club.

After a scoreless first period, Toronto drew first blood 1:08 into the second frame on a power-play goal from Ponikarovsky. Ponikarovsky fired a shot on Roloson before dancing around an Edmonton player and lighting the lamp with a backhander off his own rebound.

The Oilers responded 21 ticks later with a score from Hemsky to tie the tilt. Shawn Horcoff hit Hemsky, who got past Maple Leafs' Ian White at the blueline, with a perfect pass to set up a breakaway. Hemsky fired a shot through the five-hole for his 21st of the year.

Brodziak lit the lamp at the 8:34 mark to put Edmonton ahead 2-1. After stealing the disc away from White at center ice, Brodziak found himself on a breakaway, and Gerber let another shot trickle through his pads.

The Oilers extended their lead to two on Pisani's goal. Denis Grebeshkov's pass from the left point made its way to Pisani, who was stationed at the bottom of the right circle. Pisani took a shot that was deflected into the upper left-hand corner of the net.

Brodziak's empty-net goal late in regulation cemented the win.

Game Notes

The Oilers snapped a three-game skid to the Maple Leafs...Edmonton played its third straight game without captain Ethan Moreau, who is sidelined indefinitely with an eye injury and will not be available for the remainder of the Oilers' road trip...The Oilers had dropped four in a row on the road. They improved to 17-15-2 as the visitor for the season....Edmonton will conclude their road trip on Tuesday in Montreal.

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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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