The Los Angeles Kings (20-33-5) face off Saturday against the Colorado Avalanche (33-17-6) in the neutral setting of the U.S. Air Force Academy Falcon Stadium for an 8:00 p.m. ET puck drop. We analyze the Kings-Avalanche odds and lines, while providing NHL betting tips around this matchup.
Kings at Avalanche: Projected starting goalies
Jonathan Quick vs. Philipp Grubauer
Quick has had a 2020 to forget: He’s 0-7-1 with a .900 save percentage and a 3.33 goals against average since the turn of the year. This season, Quick is 11-22-3 with a .895 save % and 3.05 GAA.
The other netminder, Grubauer, has had a solid beginning of the year, going 8-3-1 with a .925 save % and 2.18 GAA. Grubauer has won four of his last five starts pushing his record to 18-12-4 on the season with a .915 save % and 2.65 GAA.
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Kings at Avalanche: Odds, picks and betting tips
Odds courtesy of BetMGM; access them at USA TODAY Sports for a full set of today’s betting odds. Odds last updated at 1:15 p.m. ET.
Prediction
Avalanche 5, Kings 2
Moneyline (ML)
The Kings +220 are coming into this game off of a 5-3 win over the Calgary Flames but lost their previous five, and the Avalanche -278 dropped their last game, 3-2 to the Washington Capitals, after winning five straight.
Colorado should have its way with Los Angeles and the neutral site location shouldn’t matter much for this game. The Kings are a decent 12-12-1 at home but awful 8-22-4 in games, while the Avalanche has a strong record wherever they play and actually have a better record on the road (18-9-2) than at home (15-8-4).
Personally, I don’t like the Kings’ chances at all here and the Avalanche -278 is priced too high. PASS ON THE MONEYLINE.
Puck Line/Against the Spread (ATS)
Los Angeles has lost two of its last three games to the Avalanche, giving up seven goals in both of those losses. Plus the Kings’ last six games have been decided by two or more goals. Colorado has a slightly better against the spread record (32-24) than the Kings (30-28). Also, the Avalanche are 5-1 when favored by -200 or more whereas the Kings are 2-4 when they are a +200 or more dog. Let’s TAKE AVALANCHE -1.5 (EVEN) at the reduced vig and gamble on the much stronger Colorado side putting this game away early and/or getting an empty-net goal to get an ATS win.
Over/Under (O/U)
The past six Kings-Avalanche games have alternated between the Over and the Under with the Over cashing in their last meeting. But that streak ends here today because Avalanche games have the fifth-highest goals per game—scoring the most goals per game in the NHL—and are going against a Kings team that is 23rd in opponent’s goals per game. The Avalanche have an Over/Under record of 27-26 but that’s skewed a tad since the Under has cashed five straight Colorado games.
BET OVER 5.5 (-129).
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