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Red-Hot Blues Look To Keep LA Ice-Cold

Matchup Preview and Betting Analysis

The St. Louis Blues are playing their best hockey. That’s not the case for the LA Kings.

St. Louis is lighting the lamp with ferocity heading into Friday night. Los Angeles is looking to find an offense that has suddenly abandoned them. The Blues are sitting in second place in the West Division standings, just one point behind Vegas. The Kings have fallen to sixth place in the eight-team division because of some recent struggles.

Goaltender Jordan Binnington of the St. Louis Blues during the NHL game against the Arizona Coyotes at Gila River Arena
Christian Petersen/Getty Images/AFP

Will red-hot St. Louis extend its winning ways as the sportsbook betting pick on the road? Can the Kings get their act together to snap out of the funk they’re in?

Make no mistake about it. The NHL odds for this Friday night clash will be value-packed when they go live.

St. Louis Blues (13-8-2) at LA Kings (9-8-4)

When: Friday, at 9 p.m. ET

Where: Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA

TV: ESPN+, FS-W, FS-MW

Streaking Blues Lighting the Lamp With Ferocity

St. Louis has won three straight, including a hard-fought 3-2 road win over Anaheim on Wednesday night. Jordan Binnington made 27 saves and the Blues scored on all three of their power-play chances. Oskar Sundqvist, Brayden Schenn and Zach Sanford all scored.

“I thought (assistant coach Jim Montgomery) and the players really broke down how we were going to attack Anaheim’s penalty kill,” Blues coach Craig Berube said. “These low plays around the net were open and they did a good job and took advantage of it.”

The Blues are lighting the lamp with ferocity – at least in their most recent victories. St. Louis put five goals on the board against the Ducks on Monday night after burning San Jose for seven goals prior to that.

The Blues have scored five goals or more in four of their last six victories. St. Louis ranks eighth in scoring (3.2 gpg), although they are giving up nearly identical 3.1 goals per game (22nd).

Struggling Kings Searching for Offense

The Kings have dropped three straight after winning their previous six games. Los Angeles was on the wrong end of a narrow 3-2 home loss against Arizona on Wednesday night. Drew Doughty and Gabriel Vilardi scored for LA but it wasn’t enough to overcome the three goals they allowed in the second period.

“I thought we didn’t play too bad,” Vilardi said. “I mean, you look at the shots, you think, wow, we were all over them. And then, obviously, there’s that 13-second span.”

LA has scored a grand total of six goals over its last three games. The Kings rank a modest 16th in scoring (2.9 gpg), but have limited the opposition to 2.8 goals per game defensively (12th).

Prediction

The Blues are a near-perfect 6-1 in their last 7 games as a road favorite and 16-5 in their last 21 road games. The Kings have gone 1-5 in their last 6 games after scoring two goals or less in their previous game. The road team is 4-1 in the last five meetings.

Besides the aforementioned trends, St. Louis is playing very well right now and LA is struggling. The Blues finished with the best record in the Western Conference last season after winning it all in 2019.

One team in this matchup is elite (St. Louis) the other is a playoff hopeful. That’s why the Blues are the easy pick to get ‘e done in this one!

Pick: St. Louis 5 LA Kings 3

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