Sharks aim to get on track versus Maple Leafs

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02/23/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of struggling clubs will try to get back in the win column tonight, as the San Jose Sharks visit the Toronto Maple Leafs for a clash at Air Canada Centre.

The Sharks have been floundering on the road, posting a 1-4-1 record at the start of a lengthy nine-game swing. San Jose has lost its last four tests, including three straight in regulation, and is in the midst of its worst skid since dropping six straight from Jan. 3-13 of last season.

Meanwhile, Toronto has found few positives in February after starting the month on a three-game winning streak. The Maple Leafs have gone 1-5-1 since the hot stretch from Feb. 1-6.

San Jose's recent slide has allowed Phoenix to tie the Sharks for first place in the Pacific Division and Los Angeles is just three points behind. The Maple Leafs are currently locked in a tie with Winnipeg for the eighth and final postseason berth in the Eastern Conference, with Washington two points back.

The Sharks last played on Tuesday and were handed a 6-3 loss by the lowly Columbus Blue Jackets. Jeff Carter notched his fourth career hat trick to lift the Blue Jackets, who led 4-0 in the first period and never allowed San Jose to come closer than two goals of the lead after that.

"They were obviously much better prepared to compete than us," Sharks head coach Todd McLellan said. "The disappointing thing for me is the lack of urgency that we entered the game with."

Logan Couture scored a pair of goals and Joe Thornton added a goal for the Sharks, who fell to 13-11-5 as the visiting team this season.

Antti Niemi was rocked for three goals on just 11 shots before getting pulled in favor of Thomas Greiss, who yielded three tallies on 24 shots in the loss. Niemi has yielded 12 goals on 64 shots over his last three games and Greiss could get the start tonight over San Jose's No. 1 netminder.

Sharks forward Dominic Moore left Tuesday's game with an unspecified injury after blocking a shot in the first period. Moore, who was playing in just his third game with San Jose since coming over in a trade with Tampa Bay, did not return to the game and is questionable for tonight.

San Jose defenseman Douglas Murray has missed three straight games since suffering a fractured Adam's Apple last Thursday in Tampa. Murray is questionable for tonight's tilt.

The Maple Leafs were able to earn a point in their last game, as they dropped Tuesday's contest against visiting New Jersey in overtime. Mark Fayne scored 1:18 into the extra session to lift the Devils to a 4-3 decision. Toronto's Phil Kessel forced overtime by scoring his 31st goal of the year for the Leafs with just 44 seconds left in regulation.

Toronto goaltender Jonas Gustavsson took the blame for New Jersey's winning goal, as he failed to stop Fayne's one-timer that bounced before reaching the net.

"It just skipped there a little bit and I kind of lost it," said Gustavsson. "That's no excuse because I should have stopped it. It's too bad and I feel bad for the guys because they worked really hard out there."

In addition to Kessel's goal, the Leafs also received markers from Tim Connolly and Clarke MacArthur. Gustavsson allowed four goals on 32 shots.

Tuesday's game marked the start of a three-game homestand for Toronto, which is 16-9-5 at the ACC this season.

Tonight's test marks the only meeting between the Maple Leafs and Sharks this season. Toronto posted a 4-2 win in San Jose on Jan. 11 of last season, ending San Jose's four-game series winning streak. The Sharks have won their last two games in Toronto.

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NCAA Football Betting : USC's reward: Top spot in Top 25

NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking.

No. 1 always seems to fit USC.

Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent.

Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory.

Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3.

"We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team."

Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time.

"Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team."

The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.

"I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won."

Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State.

"There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?"

USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll.

"It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter."

While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls.

As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule.

But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference.

Get the latest 2009 BCS Championship odds at MySportsbook.com.

The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road.

The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second.

The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia.

No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday.

Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.

Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina.

Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson.

The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996.

South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20.

The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24.

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