Ducks visit Vancouver without Selanne

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12/22/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Anaheim Ducks will continue a five-game road trip tonight without Teemu Selanne, as they travel to Vancouver to battle the Canucks at GM Place.

The Duck began their swing in Edmonton on Friday and posted a 3-2 shootout win. Jonas Hiller tied a club record with 51 saves and then stopped all three Oiler skaters in the shootout. Hiller tied the club mark first set by Mikhail Shtalenkov on March 22, 1998 and later matched by Jean-Sebastien Giguere on March 21, 2004.

Hiller was starting in place of Giguere, who returned to Montreal following the death of his father. He is expected to be with the team tonight.

Corey Perry scored in regulation and was the only successful skater in the shootout, as the Ducks won for the second time in three games while also halting a three-game road losing streak. Rob Niedermayer also recorded a goal in a victory that improved Anaheim to 8-5-1 as the road team this year.

However, Selanne is expected to miss the next four-to-six weeks after suffering a laceration to his left quadriceps muscle in a collision along the boards with Oilers defenseman Denis Grebeshkov. The 38-year-old forward went down and blood was seen on the ice as he was trying to make his way to the bench before being helped off the ice.

Selanne's absence could affect the Ducks' power-play unit, as all but one of his 14 goals this year have come on the man advantage. His NHL-leading 13 power-play goals account for more than half of the Ducks' power-play markers this year, with the club notching 24 on the season.

Two of those power-play goals by Selanne came in a 7-6 shootout loss to Vancouver on Halloween night. Selanne added two assists in that game for a four-point night, while Perry had five points on a goal and four assists. Giguere started the game but allowed four goals on 13 shots before being lifted for Hiller, who made 14 saves but was beat by Mattias Ohlund in the 13th round of the shootout.

Kevin Bieksa had a goal and two assists in that win, while Steve Bernier scored twice. Roberto Luongo got the win despite allowing six goals, but won't be in net for this game as he continues to be sidelined due to a strained left groin.

The win was Vancouver's fourth in its last five games versus the Ducks.

The Canucks wrap a four-game homestand tonight and lost for the first time on the trek on Saturday. After netting a total of nine goals in wins over Florida and Edmonton to start the residency, Vancouver's offense was shut down in a 3-1 loss to Chicago.

Daniel Sedin had the lone goal for Vancouver and Curtis Sanford made 30 saves. Sedin has three goals and two assists over his last three games.

Vancouver, which trails Calgary by one point for first place in the Northwest Division, is 9-4-1 at home this year.

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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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