NHL – Pittsburg Penguins at Los Angeles Kings: Preview and Prediction
10:00 PM ET, March 7, 2015
STAPLES Center, Los Angeles, CA
The Los Angeles Kings (31-21-5-7, 24-40 ATS) play host to the Pittsburg Penguins (37-18-4-5, 30-34 ATS) in National Hockey League action Saturday night at STAPLES Center. The defending Stanley Cup Champion Kings currently find them selves out of the playoff picture, two points behind 8th place Winnipeg Jets in the Western Conference with 18 regular season games to play.
Agents using bookie software currently have the Kings as home favorites with their moneyline at -140 with the Pens at +120. The total is set at 5, with the UNDER paying +120 and the OVER paying -140. Those using sites for local bookies have seen Los Angeles go 28-25-11 and Pittsburg 25-35-3 against the total.
After winning 8 straight, the Kings went on a 3-game losing streak, but have won their last 2 to stay in the playoff hunt. They defeated the lowly Edmonton Oilers 5-2 then got a 4-3 shootout win versus the Montreal Canadiens at home on Thursday.
The Kings were led with 2-goals from Marian Gaborik, his second came on the power play with less than a minute remaining in regulation to send it to overtime. The Habs only managed to get 18-shots on Jonathan Quick in this one.
The Pens last played in Anaheim, beating the NHL’s current number one seed 5-2. Pittsburg got 2-goals from Patric Hornqvist and a goal and an assist from Sidney Crosby, Geno Malkin and Blake Comeau.
The Kings and Pens have played once already this season, a 3-0 Pittsburg home win on October 30th. Marc-Andre Fleury made 35 saves for the shutout and Chris Kunitz was in on all three Pittsburg goals with 2 goals and a helper.
Pay Per Head users see Pittsburg with the edge both offensively and defensively so far this season. The Pens score an average of 2.92 goals per game with the Kings scoring 2.73, while the Pens are allowing 2.50 per game to the Kings’ 2.61.
The Pens also hold the special teams advantage, scoring on 20.69% of their power plays while the Kings score on 18.18%. When killing penalties, the Pens hold teams from scoring 85.40% of the time, while the Kings hold the opposition 80.51%.
Worthy trends those using bookie software should know include the Pens are 5-1 SU in their last 6 and 7-3 in their last 10 on the road. However, the Kings are 10-3 SU in their last 13 and 6-1 SU in their last 7 at home.
Total bettors using sites for local bookies see that the Pens have gone OVER 5-1 in their last 6 and the Kings have gone OVER in their last 4. Having said that, the Pens played to the UNDER 5-1-1 in their last 7 versus the Pacific and the Kings have gone UNDER 5-1-1 in their last 7 games following a win.
Although the Pens have nine more points than the Kings in the standings, they are both very similar teams. Both have two tops lines with a solid defense and strong goal tending.
The Kings play up to their competition at home, with recent wins at STAPLES Center against playoff contenders Montreal, Detroit, Tampa Bay and Washington. This trend will continue tonight and the Kings will win in overtime.
Prediction: Los Angeles Kings 4 – Pittsburg Penguins 3 OT
Written by: R Keough
