Red Wings fall to Blackhawks in shootout but still clinch Central

Hockey Betting Lines

04/06/2007 - Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Patrick Sharp scored in the fourth round of the shootout to lead the Chicago Blackhawks to a 3-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings in the opener of a home-and-home set at United Center.

In the fourth round, Jiri Hudler skated in on net for Detroit and flicked a wrist shot on net that Nikolai Khabibulin made a glove save.

Sharp then skated in on net and snapped a wrister on net that Chris Osgood tipped with his glove, but it had enough momentum to make it to the net for the win.

Despite the loss, Detroit is now the champion of the Central Division with 111 points. Also, the Red Wings hold a four-point lead over Anaheim for first overall in the West. Lastly, Detroit is tied with Buffalo for first overall in the NHL.

Nikita Alexeev and Bryan Bickell each scored a goal for the Blackhawks, who are in the midst of a four-game winning streak.

Khabibulin made 56 saves for Chicago, which posted a 17-20-4 mark at home this season.

Tomas Holmstrom and Kyle Calder each had a goal and Osgood finished with 19 saves for the Red Wings, who had won three of four coming into the contest.

"I think the way we're playing now is how we will play in the playoffs," said Osgood.

Chicago and Detroit square off in Detroit on Saturday, the Red Wings last game of the regular season.

The Blackhawks struck just 5:03 into the game when a slap shot from Alexeev from the left circle went over the glove of Osgood for a 1-0 lead.

Khabibulin was busy in the first period as he made 14 saves to keep Detroit off the board.

Chicago made it a 2-0 game 3:04 into the second period as Bickell's slap shot from the top of the right circle went through a screen and into the net for his first career NHL goal.

Detroit got a goal back with 40 seconds left in the second as Holmstrom wristed in a rebound from the low right side to make it a 2-1 game.

The Red Wings tied the game at the 9:36 mark of the third when Calder jammed in a loose puck during a scrum in front. It was initially ruled no-goal by the on-ice officials, but replay officials determined that the puck had crossed the goalline before the whistle blew.

"I thought the puck was under his leg," said Chicago coach Denis Savard. "We had a really tough time down low on out one-on-ones. We were terrible in the neutral zone."

Game Notes

Detroit finished the season with a 21-15-5 mark on the road...Detroit went 1- for-3 on the power play while Chicago failed to score on its only chance...Detroit has won six of seven against Chicago this season...Detroit forward Todd Bertuzzi suffered a sprained neck in the second period and did not return to the game. His status is uncertain.

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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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