Hejduk's hat trick keeps Avs' playoff hopes alive

Hockey Betting Lines

04/06/2007 - Vancouver, BC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Milan Hejduk's hat trick accounted for all of Colorado's goals as the Avalanche kept their post-season hopes alive with a 3-1 victory over Vancouver.

Paul Stastny picked up an assist on all three Hejduk tallies and Peter Budaj finished with 17 saves for Colorado, which moved within three points of Calgary for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

The Avalanche, who are 14-1-2 over their last 17 contests, have home games remaining against Nashville on Saturday and the Flames on Sunday, the latter of which is a makeup from a game postponed in December due to a blizzard.

Calgary lost to San Jose on Thursday.

Sami Salo had the lone goal and Roberto Luongo ended with 27 saves for the Canucks, who could have clinched the Northwest Division title with a victory. The Minnesota Wild beat Edmonton on Thursday to move within one point of Vancouver for the division lead.

The Canucks' final two games are on the road, with trips to San Jose on Saturday and Phoenix on Sunday, while the Wild have one game left against St. Louis on Friday in Minnesota.

With the score knotted at 1-1 after two periods of play, Hejduk's second goal of the game just under seven minutes into the third put the Avalanche up for good. Stastny created the scoring chance, controlling the puck behind the Vancouver net before finding Hejduk in the slot for the score.

Hejduk then handed Colorado a two-goal cushion at the 10:54 mark. From a scrum behind the Canucks' net, the puck squirted in front for Hejduk, who slipped a backhander past Luongo for the goal.

Vancouver pulled Luongo late for an extra attacker, but Colorado held on for the key victory.

Hejduk wasted no time in getting his first goal of the game, scoring just 25 seconds into the opening period. Salo came back for the Canucks, finding the back of the net at the 7:59 mark to tie the game.

Game Notes

Colorado took the season series with Vancouver, 5-3...Both teams came up empty on the power play, as Colorado went 0-for-4 and Vancouver went 0-for-2.

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Mayweather picked to beat De La Hoya
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA -- Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya and his rival Floyd Mayweather Jr. arrived at the MGM Grand here Wednesday amid the pomp and pandemonium befitting two of the biggest stars in the sport who are about to duke it out for the WBC super welterweight crown this Saturday (Sunday in Manila).

As of Wednesday, MySportsbook.com closed its book with Mayweather a favorite to defeat De La Hoya at -170 (a $100 bet wins $70), while De La Hoya is a +140 underdog (a $100 bet wins $140).

Mayweather arrived at about 11:30 a.m. on a big truck with his face and a big "World's Best Pound-for-Pound" sign scribbled across the vehicle. He was accompanied by his entourage made up of rappers and his training team.

A crowd of close to 3,000 eager fans packed the MGM Grand lobby, with their cameras in tow, all trying to vie for position to get a good angle at Mayweather, who is acknowledged as the world's best fighter pound-for-pound.

Eric Gomez, Golden Boy Promotions vice-president, described the fan turnout as "amazing" and swore he had never seen anything quite like this event.

"The crowd was fantastic. Everybody was just too eager to see the two fighters," said ALA manager Michael Aldeguer, who was among those who waited at the lobby together with his ward Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista and AJ Banal.

De La Hoya made his own grand entrance at the hotel lobby at around 12:30 p.m. accompanied by GBP chief executive officer Richard Schaefer and trainer Freddie Roach.

The same group of fans who trooped to see Mayweather also lingered around to get a close look at De La Hoya, who has been secretly working out at a Las Vegas gym for days after arriving from his main training camp in Puerto Rico.

The golden boy then took part in a closed-door afternoon workout with Bautista and Banal. The two, along with Aldeguer and wife Christine, as well as an HBO crew were the only ones allowed inside the gym.

De La Hoya and Mayweather take part in today's final press conference before the official weigh-in this Friday.

Ring Magazine, the acknowledged bible of boxing, reported in its June 2007 issue that 12 out of 20 boxing experts it interviewed have favored Mayweather to defeat De la Hoya, with only 8 favoring the latter.

But Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao said in a recent interview with The Freeman's Emmanuel Villaruel that De La Hoya will win by unanimous decision over Mayweather.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on boxing needs.