Blues take aim at visiting Sharks

Hockey Betting Lines

02/04/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - One night after defeating the second-place team in the Western Conference, the St. Louis Blues will try to knock off the top dog when the San Jose Sharks skate into the Scottrade Center this evening.

The Blues tuned up for this key matchup with an encouraging 3-2 road win over Central Division leader Chicago, which trails only the Sharks for the most points in the West. David Backes scored two of St. Louis' three goals during a second-period barrage, while goaltender Chris Mason made the lead stand by stopping 32 shots.

"With the amount of firepower they have, it was important to make key saves and I was fortunate enough to do that," said Mason. "We were lucky to get a couple goals there late in the second period. It was good that we were also able to survive that third period when they came out flying at us."

Mason made 14 of his saves in the final 20 minutes, with the Blues coming out on top despite being outshot by a 34-19 margin.

St. Louis will now attempt to post back-to-back victories for the first time since putting together four straight wins from January 9-16. That figures to be a tough challenge, considering the Sharks' 81 points are just one back of Washington for the most in the NHL at the moment.

San Jose has won six consecutive road games as well and brings an excellent 17-6-2 record as the visitor into this evening's clash. The Sharks also had notched at least one point in 10 straight contests (8-0-2) before being handed a 4-2 home loss by Detroit on Tuesday.

The Sharks jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead on a pair of first-period goals by Joe Thornton, both of which were set up by linemate Dany Heatley. Detroit would score twice as well before the end of the opening session, though, and found the net two more times in the third period to move ahead.

"We let them back in the game early," Thornton told the Sharks' official site. "We probably should have stepped on them a little."

Evgeni Nabokov made 33 saves for San Jose, which played without two valued defensemen in Dan Boyle (upper body) and Marc-Edouard Vlasic (lower body). Both players are considered questionable to return tonight.

Boyle, who's now sat out the Sharks' last five tests, has produced 11 points (2 goals, 9 assists) over his last eight outings.

San Jose begins a six-game road trip this evening and takes aim at its third win over the Blues this season. The Sharks are 2-0-1 over the three previous meetings between the clubs in 2009-10, which includes a 3-1 decision at the Scottrade Center on November 14.

The Sharks have left with a win in eight of their last 10 stops in St. Louis.

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A bye week will allow Terrell Owens broken hand to recover just in time for the next game the Dallas Cowboys are slated to play, according to reports. MySportsbook.com, an football sportsbook, has posted football betting lines on TO playing.

Owens broke the bone leading to his right ring finger Sunday night and had a plate surgically attached to it Monday. Although Owens' hand was swollen and aching Wednesday, Dallas Cowboys coach Bill Parcells said he's optimistic the receiver will be back at work next week and catching passes a week from Sunday against the Tennessee Titans.

MySportsbook.com online sportsbook listed Terrell Owens with odds of 7-2 (or $7 paid out for every $2 bet) to return back for the game against Tennessee.

"I certainly wouldn't rule it out now," Parcells said, referring to Terrell Owens immediate return. "Maybe five days from now I might, but I wouldn't rule it out now. ... I know we're looking to try to get him moving around pretty good in the next day or so. So we'll see where we are."

Owens did not speak with reporters Wednesday, but said Sunday he'd be out two to four weeks. A return against the Titans would be 13 days after the surgery. The Cowboys were listed as an early -7 1/2 favorite vs. the Tennessee Titans for Week 4 at MySportsbook.com

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