Tampa Bay Lightning (29-15-5) at Los Angeles Kings (18-27-5)
NHL Hockey: Wednesday, January 29, 2020 at 10:00 pm (Staples Center)
The Line: Los Angeles Kings +175 / Tampa Bay Lightning -195 --- Over/Under: 6 Click Here for the Latest Odds
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The Tampa Bay Lightning and Los Angeles Kings meet Wednesday in NHL action at the Staples Center.
The Tampa Bay Lightning need a win after splitting their last six games. The Tampa Bay Lightning are averaging 3.6 goals per game and are scoring on 27.5 percent of their power play opportunities. Nikita Kucherov leads Tampa Bay with 22 goals, Brayden Point has 24 assists and Kevin Shattenkirk has 97 shots on goal. Defensively, the Tampa Bay Lightning are allowing 2.9 goals per game and are killing 83.1 percent of their opponents power plays. Andrei Vasilevskiy has given up 92 goals on 1,109 shots faced and Curtis McElhinney has allowed 40 goals on 408 shots. The Tampa Bay Lightning have allowed three or less goals in 11 straight games.
The Los Angeles Kings need a win after losing 10 of their last 13 games. The Los Angeles Kings are averaging 2.5 goals per game and are scoring on 16.4 percent of their power play opportunities. Anze Kopitar leads Los Angeles with 17 goals, Drew Doughty has 21 assists and Dustin Brown has 106 shots on goal. Defensively, the Los Angeles Kings are allowing 3.1 goals per game and are killing 74.5 percent of their opponents power plays. Jonathan Quick has given up 93 goals on 894 shots faced and Jack Campbell has allowed 55 goals on 544 shots. The Los Angeles Kings have allowed four goals in five of their last eight games.
The Lightning are 29-12 in their last 41 Wednesday games, 7-3 in their last 10 games as a road favorite and 101-44 in their last 145 games playing on 1 days rest. The Kings are 20-48 in their last 68 games as an underdog, 1-4 in their last 5 games as a home underdog and 1-4 in their last 5 home games. The under is 5-2 in Lightning last 7 overall. The under is 7-2 in Kings last 9 home games. The Lightning are 7-0 in the last 7 meetings. The favorite is 4-0 in the last 4 meetings. The home team is 7-3 in the last 10 meetings. The under is 8-3 in the last 11 meetings in Los Angeles. The over is 5-0-1 in the last 6 meetings.
The Tampa Bay Lightning are looking more and more like the contenders we thought they'd be before the season, and that should continue here considering they've won eight of the last nine meetings against the Kings, including an overtime 4-3 victory about a week ago. This could be an emotional game for the Kings with it being the first sporting event at the Staples Center since the passing of Kobe Bryant, but I can't trust this team and the lack of defense. Give me the Tampa Bay Lightning and the PL for added value.
Randy’s Pick Tampa Bay Lightning -1.5
AUTHOR: Randy Chambers
Follow Randy Chambers on Twitter @WizardOf0dds