Staal's late trifecta lifts Hurricanes over Thrashers

Hockey Betting Lines

12/26/2008 - Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Eric Staal's third-period hat trick helped the Carolina Hurricanes overtake the Atlanta Thrashers, 5-4, at Philips Arena.

Chad LaRose and Patrick Eaves notched the other two goals for the Hurricanes, who have earned points in eight of their last 10 games, going 5-2-3 during that span. Ray Whitney collected three assists, while Cam Ward made 27 saves to pick up his 12th win of the season.

Bryan Little registered his first career three-goal game for the Thrashers, who have dropped six of their last nine contests. Todd White had a goal and an assist, while Slava Kozlov recorded four helpers. Johan Hedberg was beaten five times on 39 shots in defeat.

"Everything was bouncing my way tonight, but it still doesn't feel great cause we lost," said Little. "Hopefully, the team can get back on track and I can continue to be effective in front of the net. It seemed like whenever we had a lead, we would let up and they would take advantage of it."

Trailing by a goal after 40 minutes of play, Carolina tied the score at 3-3 on Staal's power-play tally at the 7:27 mark of the third period.

After Little finished off his hat trick and restored the lead for Atlanta at 9:52, Staal netted the tying goal 50 seconds later and completed his sixth career hat trick with 8:02 remaining, skating the entire length of the ice and firing a wrister that beat Hedberg on the blocker side.

"It was nice to get it going in the third period," Staal said. "We got down a couple (times) and ended up battling back and managed to get the two points against a division opponent."

The red-hot White lit the lamp on the power play to give Atlanta a 1-0 lead. Ron Hainsey's blast from up high was stopped by the former Conn Smythe Award winner, but the veteran pivot buried the rebound on the backhand past Ward's left pad with 9:02 remaining in the opening period.

LaRose evened the score, chipping a rebound of a Frantisek Kaberle slap shot over the glove of Hedberg with 1:04 left in the first, and Eaves put the Hurricanes on top 5:58 into the middle stanza.

Little then tallied twice in a 1:43 span late in the second period to restore the lead for Atlanta. The 2006 first-rounder positioned himself in the slot and he redirected Hainsey's drive from the point behind Ward with 1:46 to go before the second intermission.

Shortly after, Carolina defenseman Joni Pitkanen went off for hooking and the second-year center struck again. White worked the puck behind the cage to Kozlov, whose emerged around the far post and tried to stuff it on the wraparound. Little was on the doorstep and backhanded the rebound with three seconds remaining.

Game Notes

White tied his career-high point streak at eight games (five goals, six assists)...Atlanta holds a 2-1-0 edge in the season series...Thrashers center Marty Reasoner played in his 500th career game...Before the game, Atlanta activated defenseman Zach Bogosian from injured reserve and placed defenseman Garnet Exelby on IR.

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MySportsbook.com Favors Fighting Irish to win College Football betting odds

According to odds makers at MySportsbook.com, on January 8, the Fighting Irish faithful may be toasting their 14th national title in Arizona – Notre Dame’s first national championship in close to 20 years.

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ODDS TO WIN THE BCS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

Notre Dame
Ohio State
West Virginia
Texas
USC
Florida
California
Auburn
Oklahoma
Iowa
Louisville
Florida State
Michigan
Miami (FL)
LSU
Penn State
Virginia Tech
Nebraska
Tennessee
Georgia
Arizona State
Oregon
Clemson
Texas A&M
Texas Tech
Alabama
Arkansas
Boston College
Michigan State
Maryland
South Carolina
Colorado
Purdue
Georgia Tech
TCU
UCLA
Arizona
Pittsburgh
Iowa State
Wisconsin
North Carolina State
Virginia
North Carolina
Fresno State
Hawaii
Northwestern
BYU
Oregon State
UNLV
Field (Any Other Team)
5-1
7-1
8-1
8-1
8-1
12-1
15-1
15-1
18-1
20-1
20-1
20-1
20-1
20-1
25-1
40-1
40-1
50-1
60-1
60-1
60-1
70-1
70-1
100-1
100-1
100-1
100-1
100-1
150-1
200-1
200-1
200-1
200-1
200-1
250-1
250-1
300-1
300-1
300-1
300-1
300-1
300-1
400-1
500-1
500-1
500-1
500-1
1000-1
1000-1
40-1



ODDS TO WIN ACC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

Miami (FL)
Florida State
Virginia Tech
Clemson
Georgia Tech
Boston College
Maryland
Virginia
North Carolina State
North Carolina
Wake Forest
Duke
2-1
2-1
3-1
7-1
15-1
15-1
15-1
30-1
30-1
30-1
50-1
500-1



ODDS TO WIN BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

Texas
Oklahoma
Nebraska
Texas Tech
Colorado
Iowa State
Texas A&M
Kansas State
Missouri
Kansas
Baylor
Oklahoma State
7-5
9-5
9-2
12-1
14-1
15-1
15-1
30-1
30-1
35-1
100-1
100-1



ODDS TO WIN SEC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

Auburn
Florida
LSU
Georgia
Tennessee
Arkansas
Alabama
Mississippi
South Carolina
Mississippi State
Kentucky
Vanderbilt
5-2
11-4
4-1
6-1
7-1
7-1
9-1
20-1
28-1
75-1
100-1
300-1

For complete NCAA football odds please visit Mysportsbook.com.