Norrena, Blue Jackets blank Sharks

Hockey Betting Lines

02/17/2007 - Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rookie Fredrik Norrena blocked all 29 shots faced for his third shutout, as the Columbus Blue Jackets blanked the San Jose Sharks, 3-0, at Nationwide Arena.

Fredrik Modin, Gilbert Brule and Sergei Fedorov each had a goal and an assist for the Blue Jackets, who improved to 2-3-0 on their current six-game homestand, their longest in franchise history. It ends Sunday night versus Montreal.

Nikolai Zherdev and David Vyborny both notched an assist.

Evgeni Nabokov stopped 16 shots for San Jose, which has been blanked in its last two contests. The Sharks won the first two games of a season-long eight- game road trip -- including a big victory in Anaheim on February 7 -- but was also blanked by Nashville, 5-0, on Wednesday.

"We've taken a lot of steps, but the biggest step is the one we haven't taken yet and that is the step of consistency," Columbus coach Ken Hitchcock said. "It comes from inside the locker room, individually and then collectively is greater than anything."

San Jose, which is 18-10-0 on the road this year, will continue its swing on Sunday with a divisional clash in Dallas and will also visit Washington, Chicago and Calgary.

"We tried," San Jose coach Ron Wilson said. "We had opportunities. Their goalie, he made saves."

After a scoreless first period, Columbus drew first blood with 15:04 left in the second.

Modin took a feed from Brule in the right circle and skated around the goal. He backhanded a shot from just in front of the left post that deflected off Nabokov's arm, and tipped in the rebound over the netminder's right shoulder.

The Blue Jackets padded their lead when, on a 2-on-1 break, Fedorov dropped a pass to Brule, who fired a snap shot top shelf 6:02 into the third.

Columbus then blew the game open on its third unanswered goal, as Fedorov bounced the puck off the netminder's pads and then wristed it home on the second effort 12:05 into the third.

Columbus finished 1-for-4 on the power play, while San Jose was 0-for-4 on the man-advantage.

Game Notes

The Sharks posted victories in the two previous meetings this season between the clubs, and outscored Columbus 8-2 in those two games...Despite this loss, San Jose has won six of the last nine overall in the series and has split the last six in Columbus.

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Pacific-10 Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Stanford

Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.

Should be in:

Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.

Southeastern Conference odds
Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State

It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it.

Work left to do:

Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney.

Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson.

Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable.

Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile.

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