Sliding Blackhawks aim to get back on track in Denver

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02/07/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Blackhawks are trying to remain positive, but that has been tough to do over their longest losing streak of the season. The Colorado Avalanche are going through the same struggles, but at least the 'Hawks are still in the playoff picture.

The two clubs both look to snap five-game slides this evening in their final scheduled regular-season meeting.

Chicago has been outscored 22-10 over its losing streak, marking the first time it has lost five in a row since March 13-20, 2009. Another setback tonight would give the Blackhawks their longest skid since an 0-6-1 drought from Dec. 30-Jan. 11 during the 2007-08 season.

The 'Hawks recent struggles have dropped them into fourth place in the Central Division, two points back of third place and seven behind the first-place Red Wings. Chicago sits sixth overall in the West and captain Jonathan Toews is hoping his club can emerge from this funk with some lessons learned.

"We don't want to put more pressure on ourselves than we already have. We're staying positive, but weren't not making any excuses for ourselves, looking for ways to bail ourselves out of this situation," Toews said following Monday's practice.

"We know we have to be better and we will be. We've just got to look at it in a way that going through this tough stretch here is going to make us better in the end."

Chicago is just 5-7-3 since Jan. 2 and had lost the first three outings of a nine-game road trip. Friday's 3-1 loss in Calgary marked the fourth time over its skid that is failed to score more than two goals. The only exception was an 8-4 setback in Edmonton on Thursday.

Brent Seabrook scored the only goal on Friday and Ray Emery made 29 saves.

"I think stretches like this get your attention and as a team you learn from this," Blackhawks head coach Joel Quenneville said after the loss. "We haven't really had a challenge like this all year and it's up to us to recapture how we felt earlier in the year and know what it takes to win."

Chicago will look to snap a seven-game road slide this evening with its first win as the guest since Dec. 14 at Minnesota. The Blackhawks picked up a 3-1 win in their first trip to Colorado back on Oct. 20, but have dropped a pair of home games to the Avalanche since. That includes a 4-0 defeat in the most recent meeting on Jan. 6, with Semyon Varlamov notching a 27-save shutout for the visitors.

Colorado has won five of its past seven versus Chicago, but hasn't scored more than two goals in any game of its current slide and sits in a tie for 11th in the conference, three points back of a playoff spot.

The Avs looked as if they would halt their losing streak on Saturday versus the visiting Canucks, holding a one-goal lead in the game's final moments and T.J. Galiardi taking aim at an empty net.

However, Vancouver defenseman Kevin Bieksa blocked Galiardi's potential icer and then scored an overtime-forcing goal with 34.1 seconds left in the frame. Colorado went on to drop a 3-2 decision in the shootout.

Jean-Sebastien Giguere made 27 saves for Colorado, which had won 10 straight shootouts dating back to last season, including its first seven of this season. The Avalanche fell one shy of matching Dallas' record for consecutive shootout wins set during the 2005-06 campaign.

Despite the disappointing loss, which featured goals from David Jones and Jay McClement, rookie Gabriel Landeskog saw some positives in the setback.

"I think we played a pretty solid game to be honest," said Landeskog, who set a club rookie-record with nine shots on goal. "I think we took it to these guys for the majority of the game. Jiggy [Giguere] really kept us in there. They got one late in the third, but I thought we had a lot of the momentum in overtime too, and in the shootout, it was just unfortunate that we didn't put the puck in the net."

Colorado, which has lost the first two of a four-game homestand, hopes to have Peter Mueller back after the forward missed Saturday's game with flu-like symptoms.

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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. online football betting 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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