Higgins, Ryder lead Habs over Caps

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02/21/2007 - Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chris Higgins and Michael Ryder netted two goals each to guide the Montreal Canadiens past the Washington Capitals, 5-3, at the Bell Centre.

Garth Murray added an empty-net goal in the closing seconds and Jaroslav Halak picked up his second win in as many career starts in net by turning away 15 shots for the Canadiens, who have now won two in a row since losing six straight. This is the first time in a month that the Canadiens have posted back-to-back wins.

Jamie Heward finished with a goal and two assists while Brent Johnson came up with 27 saves for Washington, which has dropped four straight.

Montreal stormed out of the gates to assume a 3-0 advantage after 20 minutes of play.

All three were power-play markers, including Higgins' goal from the right side of the net 7:33 into the contest to open the scoring. Ryder made it a two- goal game with 5:12 left in the first, as his one-timer navigated through traffic in front before beating Johnson.

Less than a minute later, Higgins redirected a Saku Koivu feed in front to finish the surge.

Washington, though, opened the second frame with a pair of goals to cut the deficit to one. The first came at the 2:06 mark on a hard slap shot from Heward that deflected off Brian Sutherby and in. Heward then made it 3-2 with another slapper 30 ticks later, this one caroming off a Montreal player before slipping into the back of the net.

The Capitals were in good position to tie the game after Montreal was whistled for a double-minor with 4:27 left in the second period. Ryder, though, broke out on a short-handed charge, split a pair of defenders and then fired a snap shot past Johnson to build a 4-2 edge.

Alexander Semin again made it a one-goal game with only 34 seconds left in the second with a pretty flip shot over the shoulder of Halak.

Halak and company, however, pitched a shutout from there and Murray punched in an empty-net tally in the final minute to seal the win.

Game Notes

Murray hadn't scored in his last 43 games...Halak made 31 saves in his NHL debut Sunday to guide Montreal to a 3-2 win in Columbus. He was called into action after Cristobal Huet suffered a hamstring tear in Montreal's 5-2 loss at New Jersey on Wednesday. Huet had surgery to repair the tear on Sunday and will be out indefinitely...This marked the end of a three-game road trip for Washington, which is just 9-16-5 away from D.C. this year and has lost seven straight and 13 of its last 14 as the visitor.

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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.

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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.

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