The Kings have dominated the Sharks for a while now, and as they head into SAP Center, there’s little reason to expect that trend to change.
NHL
Tuesday’s NHL nightcap on ESPN features the San Jose Sharks hosting the Los Angeles Kings in a Pacific Division tilt.
Los Angeles has dominated this matchup over the past few years, winning nine of the past 12 meetings. Five of those nine wins came by at least a two-goal margin, and my Kings vs. Sharks predictions expect this trend to continue.
Read on for my NHL picks for Tuesday, October 28.
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Kings vs Sharks Best bet: Kings -1.5 (+120 at Fanatics)
The Los Angeles Kings’ greatest strength is their ability to slow games down and suffocate opponents with disciplined defensive play. That’s exactly how Los Angeles beat a young and speedy Chicago Blackhawks team Sunday, and the San Jose Sharks profile similarly.
This season, the Kings rank 11th in expected goals against per 60 minutes (xGA/60). Just as they did to Chicago, this group is likely to stifle a young San Jose offense that ranks 28th in expected goals for per 60 minutes (xGF/60).
Perhaps Los Angeles’ greatest advantage in this matchup is in net. Darcy Kuemper is slated to start for the Kings and is coming off a season in which he finished third in Vezina Trophy voting.
He has particularly dominated the Sharks over the past few years, posting a 4-1 record with a .935 save percentage (SV%) and 2.01 goals-against average (GAA) in the past five meetings. Meanwhile, San Jose is expected to start Yaroslav Askarov across the ice.
The 23-year-old does not appear to be NHL-ready, carrying a 1-3-1 record with a .855 SV% and 4.80 GAA this season.
Los Angeles forward Adrian Kempe could be a key factor in a multi-goal win, as he has scored in three of the team’s past four games. There’s a strong correlation between Kempe finding the back of the net and winger Andrei Kuzmenko recording an assist.
Kuzmenko has assisted on two of those three goals and skates alongside Kempe on the first line and first powerplay unit.
Four of San Jose’s past five losses have come by two or more goals. Find more NHL betting trends for Kings vs. Sharks.
Odds are correct at the time of publishing and are subject to change.
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Tony Sartori has written over 1,000 pieces of sports betting content across multiple different media outlets. He covers the NHL, UFC, PGA, NFL and MLB. Tony started part-time while attending the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he went on to receive a B.A. in Economics and a certificate in Entrepreneurship in 2022. He continues to work full-time in the sports betting landscape.
Due to the variety of sports he covers, Tony is handicapping every day. If he had one piece of betting advice for a new sports bettor, it would be to strictly enforce bankroll management rules for yourself. If you set aside $10,000 for your betting bankroll, then you should generally only be betting between $100 – $500 per play.
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