NHL

Kings vs Blues Pick: Monday, February 22nd

Kings vs Blues Pick: Monday, February 22nd: The Kings have won 4 straight Anze Kopitar is tied for 9th in the league in scoring with 21 points in 16 games, and he’s winning 54.2% of his face-offs. Dustin Brown has 14 points, in 16 games over the last two seasons; Drew Doughty has been atrocious. He was a -50 over the previous two seasons combined. This year he looks good with 15 points in 16 games. Jonathan Quick’s last two games were quickly his best of the season. They may have a difference-maker in 2nd line center, 11th overall pick in 2017, and former Windsor Spitfire Gabriel Vilardi.

〉More NHL Betting: NHL Picks with Jimmy the Bag: Monday, February 22nd

The Blues have won 3/5 but did not look good in their seven-game series against the Coyotes and most recently splitting two games with the Sharks. They are a beat-up squad right now. They have Tarasenko, Bozak, and Robert Thomas on IR and Jaden Schwartz, Colton Parayko, and Ivan Barbashev day-to-day. Parayko’s absence was painfully obvious in their 5-4 loss at home to the Sharks on Saturday night. It’s possible that Schwartz and Parayko could be back in the lineup, but even if they are, I have not liked what I have seen from this club so far this year. Sammy Blais was added to the Covid list on Saturday, and when that happens, you never know if more will be added.

Kings vs Blues Odds

NHL Odds	Opening Lines
Kings	+140
Blues	-169
Total	5.5
Where/When	Enterprise Center

The Kings are 5-5 in their last 10 games, and are riding a four-game winning streak coming into tonight’s game. The Kings have a goal differential of +3 in their last 10 games, averaging 3.1 goals per game in that stretch, while allowing just 2.8.

Meanwhile, the Blues are coming into tonight, off of a loss to the San Jose Sharks on Saturday. The Blues are also 5-5 in their last 10 games, with 3 wins in regulation, 2 wins in OT, 1 loss in OT, and 4 losses in regulation. The Blues have identical numbers to the Kings as far as their last 10 games go, a +3 goal differential in that stretch, putting up 3.1 goals per game, while allowing just 2.8.

Los Angeles are 4-0 in their last four games, with all four wins coming as the betting underdog. Coming into tonight, the Kings have gone Under the betting total in 7 of their last 8 games, when facing a team that has allowed 5 or more goals in their previous game. Meanwhile, the Blues will be playing their third game in five nights, and are 0-5 in their last five games when playing on just one day’s rest, and have failed to pick up a victory as the home side in 4 of their last 5 games at the Enterprise Center.

The Kings have failed to get a win over the Blues in 4 of their last 5 tries, while the favorite has cashed in 4 of the last 5 meetings between these two teams. Based on the betting market, the Blues are rated as a slightly better than average team, and have the edge in offense and goaltending coming into tonight, while the Kings are rated near the very bottom of the pack, but still manage to have a better overall defense, power play, and penalty kill than the Blues.