Canucks visit Avs in clash between Northwest's top two teams

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03/09/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Of all the games the Vancouver Canucks have played on their NHL-record 14-game road trip, tonight's contest with the Colorado Avalanche could be the most important.

Northwest Division-leading Vancouver will try to extend its two-point edge over second-place Colorado in the standings when the clubs clash Tuesday night at Pepsi Center.

The Canucks are 7-5-0 thus far on their swing, including wins in three of four since the Olympic break. Vancouver's 4-2 victory over Nashville gave the franchise its 40th win in 65 games, the fastest the club has ever reached that mark in team history.

Still, Vancouver leads Colorado by just two points but has outscored the Avalanche 16-7 in winning three of the four meetings this year. That includes an 8-2 triumph when the team's last met at Pepsi Center on November 14. Henrik Sedin notched his first career hat trick in that win, the Canucks' third in their last four trips to Colorado.

Sedin was one of four goal scorers in Sunday's win over Nashville, as his empty-net tally capped a three-goal third period to complete the rally. Mikael Samuelsson netted his career-high 24th goal of the game and Jannik Hansen had the game-winner with 5:42 left in the third.

It marked the NHL-leading ninth time the Canucks have won after trailing at the beginning of the third period.

Samuelsson, who scored 23 goals with Detroit in 2005-06, has scored in three straight and five of his last six games, while teammate Ryan Kesler had an assist to run his point streak to nine games (5 goals, 5 assists).

"We got some lucky breaks [Sunday]," said Samuelsson. "You know, sometimes those breaks go the other way, but tonight they went our way and we were able to get the win."

Roberto Luongo made 33 stops for Vancouver, which ends its epic swing Wednesday in Phoenix before returning home on Saturday for the first time since January 27.

Colorado plays the middle portion of a three-game homestand tonight and won for the sixth time in nine games with a 7-3 triumph over St. Louis on Saturday. Chris Stewart led the Avs' highest single-game goal output this season with his first career hat trick, capping the feat on a penalty shot.

"It's always big when you get your first NHL hat trick," said Stewart, who also had an assist and was named the NHL's First Star of the Week on Monday after totaling five goals and four assists in four games. "But more importantly we got the win. It was a big two points we nabbed [Saturday]."

Colorado, which had lost three of four coming in, has won six of seven and 10 of its last 13 as the host.

Milan Hejduk, who had missed the last 17 games due to knee and back ailments, scored a pair of goals and T.J. Galiardi had a goal and two assists. Craig Anderson had 39 saves in the win.

Defenseman Ruslan Salei left the contest with a torso injury in the second period, putting his status for tonight in doubt. Fellow blueliner Kyle Cumiskey is expected to play tonight for the first time since February 12, however. He had missed the last five games due to a head injury.

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The NFL preseason is approaching. Time for players, coaches and teams to turn over a new leaf. General managers have hired some new coaches, while coaches have added some offensive and defensive assistants to try and improve things. Here’s a look at some changes to look for in the preseason.

New York Jets: The Jets were one of the surprise teams in the NFL last season, making the playoffs under hard-driving first-year coach Eric Mangini. Mangini rebuilt the offensive line with rookies D'Brickashaw Ferguson (the No. 4 pick in the 2007 Draft) and Ohio State center (the 29th pick in the first round). This season he upgraded the defense with rookie linebacker David Harris (Michigan) while the secondary picked up a much needed top-notch corner in Pitt CB Darrelle Revis (No. 14 overall).

The Jets have added balance to the offense for QB Chad Pennington with RB Thomas Jones, essentially stolen from the Bears. He will upgrade a New York ground game that was 20th in rushing with a weak 3.5 yards per carry. They have their first true feature back since Curtis Martin. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer prefers ball control, like his father Marty. In preseason, behind Pennington you’ll see second-year QB Kellen Clemens and mobile newcomer QB Marques Tuiasosopo.

Jacksonville Jaguars: The heat is on Jack Del Rio in Jacksonville as the Jaguars flopped last season despite a ton of talent. Keep in mind that under Del Rio the Jaguars have been outstanding in preseason with a 12-4 SU, 11-5 ATS August mark. Their defense is loaded, it’s the offense that has been stuck in first gear the last few years.

Enter a new offensive coordinator in Dirk Koetter, the former Boise State and Arizona State pass-happy coach. He will try and upgrade a passing game that ranked 24th last season. Del Rio has criticized wide receivers and Matt Jones this summer, both of whom have battled injuries. It will be interesting to watch the “new” Jaguars passing game in preseason.

Arizona Cardinals: Word out of Arizona is that the players like new coach Ken Whisenhunt, who was the Steelers offensive coordinator last year. We think of Arizona as all-passing because their running game has been awful of late because of a poor offensive line. However, keep an eye on the running game in preseason as they’ve made a lot of changes.

The new coach brings in Russ Grimm to coach the offensive line (Grimm did a marvelous job building the Steelers line). They took Penn State OT Levi Jones in the first round and signed two offensive linemen, Mike Gandy and Al Johnson, to provide depth. Reggie Wells was moved from right tackle to left guard and they want more speed out of the offensive line for pulling and traps, a Pittsburgh staple under Bill Cowher.

Atlanta Falcons: While all the attention has been focused on QB Mike Vick’s off-field problems, new coach Bobby Petrino is revamping the Falcons from an all-running team to a more balanced one. Petrino likes the experience of backup QB Joey Harrington and he has veteran backup Chris Redman, who used to play for Petrino at Louisville and knows his offenses better than anyone. Petrino wants Vick to be more of a pocket passer.

The addition of FB Ovie Mughelli is a sign Petrino wants a power rushing attack behind a physical fullback and newcomer WR Joe Horn should upgrade what was a below average wideout corps. Petrino is changing their old zone-blocking scheme to a more traditional in-line blocking scheme and the offensive line is bigger. Rookie DE Jamaal Anderson was grabbed in the first round and the secondary got younger with former Auburn cornerback David Irons, who the Falcons think was a steal as a sixth-round pick.

Cleveland Browns: The 2007 Browns look like a double-edged sword. There was the excitement of the offseason, trading for RB Jamel Lewis, upgrading the offensive line with Wisconsin’s Joe Thomas (the No. 2 pick in the draft) and free agent LG Eric Steinbach, then trading for Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn when he fell to No. 22. GM Phil Savage and head coach Romeo Crennel feel they have a talented, balanced offense with these new pieces, plus TE >Kellen Winslow and WR Braylon Edwards.

However, were these moves made in desperation? And were they foolish ones? The Browns gave up their 2008 first-round pick for Quinn and we all know QBs take time to develop. And even first-round QBs can be busts (Joey Harrington, Akili Smith). We also don’t know if the offensive line is that much improved (31st in rushing in 2007) and they did nothing to improve a defense that was awful against the run (142 yds pg allowed).

The Browns have a new offensive coordinator in Rob Chudzinski. This is a young offense and Quinn looked tentative, indecisive and inaccurate early in camp. Crennel will play Charlie Frye, Quinn and Derek Anderson in preseason. And there is a mixed bag for rookie QBs receiving significant starts: Tim Couch (14), Kerry Collins (13), Ben Roethlisberger (13), Vince Young (13), Joey Harrington (12), Matt Leinart (11) and Kyle Boller (nine). While all the focus will be on the Browns new-look offense, I’m more concerned with the defense.

Carolina Panthers: Coach Jon Fox loves the ground game, but Carolina has made some interesting changes for 2007. Fox fired offensive coordinator Dan Henning and brings in Jeff Davidson to run the offense. Davidson has brought in zone-blocking schemes to the Panther offense, a dramatic change for a system that's been built around a power-running style.

In zone-blocking, offensive linemen are responsible for blocking any defender who appears in their zone, instead of focusing on one defender. The Broncos and Falcons have had success with the system, which features smaller, more athletic offensive linemen and can create running lanes on the inside and outside. Keep an eye in preseason on how Carolina adjusts as it will take time to learn the system. Fox has been one of the top coaches in preseason, with a 15-5 SU, 12-7-1 ATS August record.

Dallas Cowboys: WR Terrell Owens is still here, but QB Drew Bledsoe and Bill Parcells are gone. New head coach Wade Phillips takes over, replacing Parcells. He ran the Chargers defense last season. Phillips was chosen by teary-eyed owner Jerry Jones partly because he is one of the best 3-4 coaches in football and the Cowboys have loaded up on players for that scheme.

Remember that Phillips was blitz-happy with the Chargers last season and early reports out of the Dallas camp have mentioned how the Cowboys have been blitzing a lot, a departure from Parcells. The theme of the 2007 Dallas defense appears to be one of attack.

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