Habs entertain Caps in encounter between struggling clubs

Hockey Betting Lines

02/20/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Montreal Canadiens will try to post back-to-back wins for the first time in a month as they welcome the Washington Capitals for tonight's showdown at the Bell Centre.

The Canadiens ended a six-game losing streak Sunday by posting a 3-2 victory in Columbus. Jaroslav Halak made 31 saves in his NHL debut to guide Montreal to the close win at Nationwide Arena. Saku Koivu, Michael Ryder and Francis Bouillon all scored for the Canadiens.

Halak was called into action after Cristobal Huet suffered a hamstring tear in Montreal's 5-2 loss at New Jersey on Wednesday. Huet had surgery to repair the tear on Sunday and will be out indefinitely.

Montreal has fallen into a tie with Toronto and the New York Islanders for the eighth and final postseason berth in the Eastern Conference. All three teams have 66 points on the year.

The Capitals have lost three straight games and are coming off a close defeat in Pittsburgh on Sunday. Mark Recchi, Evgeni Malkin and Maxime Talbot registered goals as Sidney Crosby's Penguins outlasted Alexander Ovechkin and the Caps by a 3-2 count.

Crosby finished with only an assist and Ovechkin went without a point, a bit of an anti-climactic outcome to the anticipated duel between the NHL's top two young stars.

Richard Zednik and Alexander Semin had the goals for Washington, while Brent Johnson finished with 23 stops.

Ovechkin, who leads Washington in goals (34) and assists (38), has gone two straight games without a point and has just one goal and one helper over his last seven tests.

The Capitals have dropped to 14th place in the East and are trailed only by the Philadelphia Flyers.

Tonight marks the end of a three-game road trip for Washington, which is just 9-15-5 away from D.C. this year and has lost six straight and 12 of its last 13 as the visitor.

Montreal and Washington have split a pair of meetings this year, but the Habs have taken six of the last 10 matchups. The Capitals have also walked away defeated in three of their last four trips to Montreal.

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Marlins could start season without No. 2 starter Johnson

JUPITER, Fla. -- The Foorida Marlins are preparing for the likelihood that right-hander
Josh Johnson won't be ready when the season starts April 2.

Grapefruit League action starts Wednesday, but Johnson, penciled in as the No. 2 starter, hasn't even thrown off a mound at full speed since September. He's experienced some soreness in his right forearm.

MySportsbook.com have the Marlins listed with baseball betting lines at +800 to win the NL East this season .

''You guys know the math. If he's not on the hill then he becomes an opening day roster issue,'' manager Fredi Gonzalez said Saturday. ''We're borderline now.''

Johnson, who finished 12-7 with a 3.10 ERA in 2007, was supposed to throw on flat ground Saturday. That was canceled when he woke up with pain.

He played catch on Wednesday with no pain but felt discomfort in a throwing session on Thursday. He's expected to try again Sunday.

''Like we always said from the very beginning, we're going to take it easy on him,'' Gonzalez said. ''He didn't feel right, so we shut him down. We're going to take it back to step one and see where we're at.''

Among the candidates to take Johnson's spot in the rotation are left-hander Chris George and right-handers Yusmeiro Petit and Jose Garcia.

Right-hander Sergio Mitre, who missed most of last season with arm and shoulder problems, also is behind.

With Johnson's status doubtful, Gonzalez said right-hander Ricky Nolasco will stay in the rotation and no longer will be considered a candidate for closer.

Additional basbeall odds can be found at: www.MySportsbook.com

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