Western Conference Odds: Stars vs Kings Betting Preview
Kings Post 6-0 Record After Scoring Just 2 or Fewer Goals in Previous Games
The NHL scoreboard today will end with an intriguing match-up from Los Angeles, where the Dallas Stars will look to increase their unbeaten streak to five NHL games.
At the same time, the Kings hope to bounce back after an embarrassing home loss to the Philadelphia Flyers as a -220 favorite. Stanley Cup odds for both teams are still attractive with the Boston Bruins (+550) getting most of the attention.
Dallas is +1600 while Los Angeles is +3500.Dallas Stars (23-9-6, 52 points) at Los Angeles Kings (21-13-6, 48 points)
Date & Time:
Location: Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, California
Streaming: ESPN
Stars Among Leagues Elite
Every couple of days, bettors usually adjust their power rankings to reflect the last few NHL games. After four straight wins, with three of them being easy, we are left with no reasons to move the Dallas Stars up to the second spot of our overall power rankings, with only the Boston Bruins ahead of them.
After a road win against the wild as a slight underdog, they could have easily come home against an inferior opponent in the San Jose Sharks and dropped the ball. Instead, they handled the Stars, 5-2, sending a message to the Western Conference that they are the team to beat.
They have one of the top goaltenders in the league Jake Oettinger and a legit Hart Trophy candidate in Jason Robertson who has 54 points, ranked third in the league. Dallas Stars is at their best when they’re playing tight, low-scoring games.
The only concern is coming off of games where transition scoring, not defense, was the flavor of the game. Excluding the last two games, we’ve seen five straight pairs of games where the Stars scored four or more goals and then came back to play low-scoring games where their offensive production fell off.
“Despite their success, Dallas has profited just 159 units for bettors, which tells us that we should still be cautious when putting our money behind the Stars.”
Let’s move our Stars vs Kings Betting Preview over to Los Angeles.
Kings Still Need More Pieces
The Los Angeles Kings are close to catching the Vegas Golden Knights for the Pacific Division lead, but there are still some things missing from the club that prevents they’re as good as Vegas when 100% healthy. Things didn’t start well for Los Angeles after missing the hockey postseason last year, but with points in 7 of their last 8 games.
“Bettors are starting to find some confidence in the Kings who have been profitable by the slimmest of margins this season (+72 units).”
As an underdog, the Los Angeles Kings are +300 units despite a 16-17 record, 4-3 as a home dog (+144 units). As we get closer to the trade deadline, you can expect some moves to give them some defensive depth but for now, our focus is on this match-up.
Let’s conclude our Stars vs Kings Betting Preview but looking at some angles followed by our official selection.
Early Public Wagering Slightly Favors Kings
There hasn’t been much movement, but it appears that the public will push this number in the King’s direction as betting becomes heavier. That means we’ll jump on this number now which is around even money. As mentioned, we don’t have the Kings among our Stanley Cup favorites but they have won six of their last seven games against the Western Conference and six of eight overall.
Over their last 11 games, only four other NHL teams have been more profitable than Los Angeles (Carolina, Arizona, Washington, and Buffalo), winning 272 units. They’ve won three straight games as an underdog in that time.
To conclude our Stars vs Kings Betting Preview, our official selection is the Los Angeles Kings.
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