The Staples Center is playing host to an East-West showdown as the Los Angeles Kings take the ice against the visiting New York Rangers. The first puck drops at 3:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, October 28, and it’ll be shown live on Fox Sports West.
New York Rangers at Los Angeles Kings Odds
New York (+135) is playing the role of underdog to Los Angeles (-155) and the Over/Under (O/U) is set at 6 goals (-110 for the over, -110 for the under).
New York is 3-7 straight up (SU) and has lost 3.4 units for moneyline bettors thus far. Seven of its matches have gone under the total, while three have gone over and none have pushed. As the away team in 2018-19, the Broadway Blueshirts are 0-4 SU.
New York has found the net on 21.9 percent of its power play opportunities thus far. That mark hasn’t moved a lot from last year, when it was ranked 12th in the league by scoring on 21.2 percent of its extra-man chances. Its penalty kill has fallen off noticeably year-over-year, as the team has gone from successfully defending 81.4 percent of all opponent power plays (ranked eighth overall last year) to 75.8 percent this year.
New York, as a collective unit, has been penalized 4.6 times per game this season, a number that has jumped some from the 3.5 penalties per game given up last year. After serving an average of 8.0 penalty minutes per game a season ago the team has had to stave off opponent power plays for a whopping 11.2 minutes per outing this year.
Boasting a .920 save percentage and 30.3 saves per game, Henrik Lundqvist (2-6-1) has been the best option in goal for New York this season. If New York decides to rest him, however, head coach David Quinn may roll with Alexandar Georgiev (1-1), who has a .883 save percentage and 4.56 goals against average this year.
Mika Zibanejad and Mats Zuccarello will both be relied on to facilitate things for the visiting Rangers. Zibanejad (nine points) is up to five goals and four assists, and has recorded two or more points two times. Zuccarello has two goals and six assists to his nameand has logged a point in six games.
On the other side of the ice, Los Angeles is 2-8 straight up (SU) and has already lost 8.0 units for moneyline bettors this year. Through 10 regular season matches, five of its games have gone under the total, while four have gone over and just one has pushed. This year, the team’s 1-3 SU as the home team.
Los Angeles has converted on just 8.8 percent of its power play opportunities this year, a mark that places it in the bottom overall among NHL teams. On the other hand, its penalty kill is ranked 19th overall, and it’s successfully killed off 75.0 percent of all opponent power plays.
Los Angeles players have been called for penalties 3.7 times per game this season, a number that’s pretty close to the 3.8 penalties per game given up last year. After serving an average of 8.8 penalty minutes per game a season ago the team’s been forced to kill penalties for 9.1 minutes per outing this year.
Jack Campbell (23.6 saves per game) has been the primary selection in goal for Los Angeles. Campbell has two wins and five losses to his credit and has registered a .917 save percentage and 2.67 goals against average this season.
Alex Iafallo (two goals, five assists) will lead the offensive counter for LA.
New York Rangers at Los Angeles Kings Betting Predictions
Pick: SU Winner – Kings, O/U – Over
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Notes
Betting Trends
After posting a 3-5 record in games decided by a shootout last year, New York is off to a 1-0 start in shootouts this season. Los Angeles was 2-1 in shootouts last year and has yet to participate in one this time around.
The total has gone over in three of Los Angeles’ last five outings.
Los Angeles has allowed 3.6 goals per game (overall) this season, but is giving up 4.8 goals per matchup over its six-game losing streak.
New York skaters registered 20.9 hits per game last season, while the Kings logged 27.3 hits per contest.
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