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Bruins -200 vs. Maple Leafs

Two ancient rivals renew their battle this Thursday when the Toronto Maple Leafs travel abroad to visit the Boston Bruins. The Bruins have lagged behind the success of their Beantown sports brethren. Six titles this decade for Boston have not included a Stanley Cup and the Bruins have not won the Cup since 1972.

This season has been more of the same for Boston as they have struggled to achieve their 2-1-3 record. The Bruins have hung tough in their losses, but have ultimately lost three of those contests in a shootout, including their last two games against Pittsburgh and in Buffalo. Boston has lost four of their last five, three of those coming in shootouts since starting the season 1-0 with a victory in the Pepsi Center over Colorado.

Toronto (1-2-3) has been in free full since their quality opening game victory over Detroit on the night the Red Wings raised their Stanley Cup championship banner. The Maple Leafs have dropped five straight since besting Detroit on October 9. Much like the Bruins, the Leafs have hung tough in many of their losses, with three of them going to a shootout. Toronto's troubles have a lot to do with the fact that they cannot score.  In their five losses, the Leafs have been held to one goal or less three times and are averaging only 1.83 goals per game this season and that average was greatly skewed by a four goal performance against the Blues on October 13. Their defense has not been much better giving up an average of 3.50 goals per game.

Boston has played a little better on offense and defense but it has not been able to allow them to win in regulation regularly. The Bruins' leading scorer is Marc Savard with his 9 points (5 goals, 4 assists). Boston's net minder Manny Fernandez boasts a stellar 2.62 goals against average.

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Auburn -6½ vs. Tennessee U

It’s bounce-back Saturday for Tennessee and Auburn, as those two battle while coming off disappointing losses last week – disappointing for very different reasons.

The Vols were dominated again by Florida and don’t resemble SEC contenders. The Tigers, on the other hand, lost a close 26-21 game to LSU and look like national players.

Tennessee is 1-2 as cries from Vol Nation for the firing of coach Phil Fulmer have begun in earnest. UT did also start 1-2 last year after a blowout loss to the Gators, but won eight of its next nine to reach the SEC title game.

"We played for the championship in Atlanta when a lot of other people had given up on us early," Fulmer said. "We won't give up, and we've got a chance to be there yet. It's just a little bit harder road."

The Vols haven’t started 1-3 since 1994, Fulmer’s second full season as coach, but things are getting testy in Knoxville. Remember, UT also lost to a UCLA team that was beaten 59-0 by BYU.

"We've won 148 football games in my time here at Tennessee and lost a little bit less than that - a lot less than that, actually - and we didn't all of sudden get stupid as coaches,” Fulmer said. “We know what we're doing, and we're going to go to the practice field and correct and work and put our football team on the field with the best advantage that we can possibly have."

Auburn (3-1, 1-1 SEC), meanwhile, can’t afford another loss if it hopes to pass LSU in the West Division and earn a trip to the SEC title game. No. 1 running back Brad Lester is "a little sore," but should be able to play against Tennessee, Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville said. Lester twisted his knee in the third quarter vs. LSU, but an MRI revealed no damage.

Auburn’s offense struggled to run the ball against a fast and physical LSU defense, gaining only 70 yards on the ground. However, the Tigers were able to put up 250 yards passing, with QB Chris Todd completing 17 of his 32 attempts.

“He played good,” offensive coordinator Tony Franklin said of Todd. “He had three plays that were really poor. Outside of that he played really well. He made numerous just really good plays and big throws. I think he got more comfortable. I think every week that he plays, you’ll see a little bit of improvement each week.”

Tennessee and Auburn are meeting for the first time since the 2004 SEC Championship Game, won 38-28 by the Tigers. Auburn leads the series 25-21-3 and is riding a three-game winning streak after a 5-0-1 stretch by the Vols from 1989-99. Auburn won 28-21 during the teams' 2003 meeting at Jordan-Hare Stadium. The Volunteers have not dropped four straight in this series since 1961-64.

Auburn has opened as a 6.5-point betting favorite on WagerWeb.com

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