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A pair of teams with no love for one another will clash out on the ice as the Los Angeles Kings take on the Colorado Avalanche in the Mile High City. Join us for our NHL odds series where our Kings-Avalanche prediction and pick will be revealed.
Coming into the game with similar records, the Kings will put their 20-12-5 mark on the line as they have compiled wins in five of their previous six games. In fact, Los Angeles came away with a decisive 4-2 victory over the top team in the west in the Vegas Golden Knights, and should have an abundance of confidence heading into tonight's duel.
Obviously, the Colorado Avalanche remain beat up throughout each of their top lines and have struggled to stay consistent to gather up some chemistry between their backups. As it stands, Colorado has seven names on the injury report and are trying to get by in their absences. After an ugly 6-3 loss to the Coyotes on Tuesday that stopped a four-game winning streak, the Avs will be seeking to bounce back in a big way.
Here are the Kings-Avalanche NHL odds, courtesy of FanDuel
NHL Odds: Kings-Avalanche Odds
Los Angeles Kings: +1.5 (-215)
Colorado Avalanche: -1.5 (+172)
Over: 6 (+102)
Under: 6 (-124)
Why The Kings Could Cover The Spread
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On paper, the Kings have quietly become one of the hotter teams that the NHL has to offer at the moment. Indeed, it was only a short, couple of weeks ago that LA saw themselves struggling to keep their heads above water. However, it is crazy what a little winning streak can do for the morale of a team, as the Kings now only trail the Golden Knights by four points for the top spot in the Pacific Division.
When it comes to finding a way to cover against the defending champs later tonight, the most important aspect that Los Angeles will need to find a way to control will be their defensive effort versus an up-and-down Avs attack. Since Colorado is majorly shorthanded at the moment, the Kings could take advantage with an aggressive scheme defensively. The one troublesome statistic for the Kings this season has been the fact that they are surrendering 3.40 goals per contest, but fear not LA bettors; this side of the ice is still stacked with talent that could end up taking care of business.
While this talent in their own zone has been evident, no player on this roster has been as important than rookie goaltender Pheonix Copley. Despite Jonathan Quick playing in his 16th season in Los Angeles, it has been the electric play of Copley that has given the Kings a whole new look. In fact, the 30-year-old first-timer is 7-1 and has averaged a .912 save percentage in his eight starts on the year.
Why The Avalanche Could Cover The Spread
Surprisingly enough, the Avalanche have done as good of a job as one could do in keeping the boat afloat with the amount of star power that is missing. Fortunately, it is rumored that center Nathan MacKinnon is indeed getting closer to returning to Colorado's top line after being ruled out for at least a month a few weeks back. Although the Avs are hopefully nearing the end of their dreaded injury bug, they will still need to rely on some unlikely heroes to get the job done against the Kings.
Entering this contest as favorites regardless of how hot the Kings have been, Colorado's best chance to cover will be to make goalie Alexandar Georgiev comfortable again in net. Against Arizona, Georgiev looked lost as ever as he gave up four goals on 22 shots in the first two periods and clearly was not close to being on his A game. The bigger sample size suggests that it was just an off-night for the former New York Ranger, as he possesses a top-ten save percentage and the fifth-best overall record as a goalie in the league.
No doubt about it, the Avs will need some skaters to come up big in the goal-scoring department. Alas, look no further than Mikko Rantanen to continue carrying the load for the banged-up Avalanche. With the fourth-most goals scored in the NHL with 24, Rantanen has been one of the lone bright spots within an offense that is only scoring 2.91 goals per contest. Surprisingly enough, Colorado boasts a top-five power-play unit led by Cale Makar and could eventually overwhelm LA if they can get them to commit a rash of penalties.
Final Kings-Avalanche Prediction & Pick
Facing off for the first time this season, both sides may need at least a period to feel each other rout, but by the time this matchup picks up intensity, it will be the Kings that do just enough to squeak one out.
Final Kings-Avalanche Prediction & Pick: Kings +1.5 (-215)
