Sabres double up Flyers

Hockey Betting Lines

02/21/2007 - Buffalo, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Daniel Briere posted a goal and two assists as the first-place Buffalo Sabres crushed the last-place Philadelphia Flyers, 6-3.

Chris Drury, Jason Pominville and Derek Roy each had a goal and an assist for the Sabres, who have won seven of their last nine and improved to 4-0-1 on their current six-game home stand.

Adam Mair tallied his first goal in 43 games for Buffalo, while Andrew Peters scored for the first time since March 26, 2004.

Simon Gagne continued his torrid play as of late with two goals and Mike Richards notched a career-high three assists for the Flyers, who have dropped three of their last four.

Philadelphia netminder Robert Esche, in his first start since February 3, gave up four goals on 14 shots before being pulled early in the second period.

The game started off with a bang as R.J. Umberger and Brian Campbell exchanged fisticuffs just over two minutes into the opening period. Umberger, though, was whistled for instigating and was handed a game-misconduct penalty as the Sabres took advantage of the ensuing power play.

With time running out on the man-advantage, Roy fired the puck past a screened Esche 4:04 into the period to give Buffalo the first score of the game. Gagne's first goal of the game briefly knotted the contest midway through the period, but Peters answered with his first goal of the season 38 seconds later to make it 2-1 Sabres.

Mair then redirected Campbell's shot from the point 1:45 into the middle stanza to make it 3-1 and just 40 seconds later, Briere scored on the power play to make it a three-goal contest and chase Esche from the game.

Philadelphia did not go down quietly as Gagne's second goal of the game -- a cross-ice pass that deflected off a Sabre and past Buffalo goaltender Ryan Miller -- midway through the second period brought the Flyers within 4-2. Sami Kapanen then scored on a nice individual effort 5:17 into the third to make it a one-goal game.

Drury, however, answered with a power-play tally just over two minutes later and Pominville scored with 6:53 left in the third to restore the Sabres' three-goal advantage.

Game Notes

Miller ended the game with 32 saves...Gagne has recorded nine goals and four assists in his last seven games...Kapanen's score broke a 14-game goal-less drought...Flyers defenseman Alexei Zhitnik played in his 1,000th game...Esche has given up 13 goals in two starts in Buffalo this season and was pulled in both games...Antero Niittymaki took over for Esche and finished with just six saves.

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Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.