Stars begin two-game series in San Jose

Hockey Betting Lines

01/30/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two teams will get to know each other well over the next few days as the San Jose Sharks begin a four-game homestand tonight, when they play host to the Dallas Stars.

It will be the first of two consecutive meetings at HP Pavilion. The two clubs will do battle again in San Jose on Thursday.

The game could mark the return of Dallas center Mike Modano to the lineup. Modano has missed the last 23 games due to a hip/groin flexor, having last played on December 4 against the Sharks.

Modano has 10 goals and 10 assists in 27 games this year and has 55 points (17 goals, 38 assists) in 60 career games against San Jose.

Dallas continues its four-game road trip having been defeated 4-1 by the Ducks in the trek's opener on Sunday. Jere Lehtinen netted the Stars' only goal when he deked Anaheim goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere on a penalty shot before scoring on a backhander.

Marty Turco stopped 24-of-28 shots for Dallas, which fell to 14-11-1 on the road this year.

The Stars, who sit 10 points back of Anaheim for the lead in the Pacific Division, are also without forward Brenden Morrow (right wrist surgery).

The Sharks return home after playing a pair of games on the road. Most recently, San Jose was downed by Vancouver, 3-1, behind a 38-save effort by Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo on Sunday.

Joe Pavelski scored the lone goal and Evgeni Nabokov stopped 21-of-23 shots for the Sharks, who have dropped two of their last three games.

Nabokov has been sharing time this season in net with Vesa Toskala, who has a personal seven-game winning streak that is tied for the longest single-season win streak in club history. Arturs Irbe also won seven straight during the 1993-94 season.

Toskala has posted a .931 save percentage and a 1.62 goals against average during his winning run.

San Jose, which is 17-9-0 at home this season, will also play host to Chicago and Anaheim. The club is currently four points back of the Ducks for the lead in the Pacific division.

The teams have split four meetings so far this year with the Sharks snapping a two-game losing streak to Dallas on New Year's Eve. The Sharks have won four of the last six matchups and five of the last eight.

Dallas has lost three of its last five at San Jose.

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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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