The Vancouver Canucks (6-2-3) and LA Kings (8-3-3) clash in a Pacific Division showdown Thursday. The opening faceoff at crypto.com Arena will be at 10:30 p.m. (ESPN+). Let’s analyze BetMGM Sportsbook’s NHL odds around the Canucks vs. Kings odds and make our expert NHL picks and predictions.
Season series: First meeting; LA won last season’s series 3-0-1
Vancouver has won 2 in a row and is 6-1-1 over its last 8 games. The Canucks’ last contest was essentially the front half of a Los Angeles two-fer: Vancouver routed the Anaheim Ducks in Anaheim Tuesday.
The Kings are also coming off a 5-1 triumph Tuesday at Minnesota Wild and have won 2 in a row. Since Oct. 24, LA has gone 5-1-1 while allowing just 22.9 shots per game.
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Provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list of NHL odds. Lines last updated Wednesday at 10:54 p.m. ET.
Kevin Lankinen (6-0-2, 2.09 GAA, .923 SV%) vs. Darcy Kuemper (4-0-3, 2.67 GAA, .899 SV%)
Lankinen stopped 21 of 22 pucks in Tuesday’s win at Anaheim. He’s started both games of Vancouver’s current road trip and owns a .933 SV% over those 2 games.
Kuemper last played Sunday at the Nashville Predators and stopped 16 of 16 shots in a 3-0 victory. That performance marked a bounce-back after clocking an .860 SV% across 4 starts from Oct. 14-Nov. 2.
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Kings 3, Canucks 2
The Kings have won 5 of the last 6 meetings and 4 of those 5 victories were by margins of 3 goals or more.
Analytics peg Vancouver’s 3.18 goals per game as somewhat suspect, and in this road tilt with the Canucks scuffling on the power play (1 for last 17) Vancouver is a fade lean. Tag the Canucks’ 6-1-0 road mark as being a strength-of-schedule question mark as well.
The Kings are playing a third game in 4 days. The last time LA had that type of stretch was Oct. 14-17, and the Kings racked up a 4-1 victory at the Montreal Canadiens on day 4. Kuemper has been a solid home starter over his career (.917 SV%), and he heads into this start with some confidence after his Sunday shutout.
LA has been the better 5-on-5 expected goals-vs.-expected goals allowed club over recent starts.
BACK THE KINGS (-110).
The juice here is drowning out bettors’ prices at both ends. AVOID.
The Under is 8-1-1 over the last 10 Canucks-Kings games.
Both sides have some 5-on-5 expected-goal analytics that point to yields being on the high side at both ends of the ice (scoring and allowing more than is warranted by support numbers).
FanDuel Sportsbook has a better leverage tag here. BET THE UNDER 5.5 (+106).
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