Fri, Mar 12, 2021
By Jim Vassallo (Veri.bet Writer)
An exciting West Division bout is on the schedule for Friday, March 12, at 9 PM ET between the Los Angeles Kings and the Colorado Avalanche.
These two teams are fighting for points in an effort to keep pace with the first-place Vegas Golden Knights who lead the division with 33 points.
Colorado (14-8-2) is sitting in fourth place with 30 points, while Los Angeles (11-8-5) is in fifth place with 28 points.
The Avalanche are coming off a much-needed 2-1 overtime victory against the Arizona Coyotes that catapulted them in front of the Coyotes and Kings in the division standings. Gabriel Landeskog scored 4:22 into the overtime frame to give the Avalanche the victory. Goaltender Philipp Grubauer only needed to make 13 saves for Colorado to put the game in the win column.
The Avalanche had lost 3-2 to the Coyotes in the front-end of a back-to-back set.
The Kings and Avalanche have split the first two games of their eight-game regular-season series. They will meet again on Sunday, March 14 and then not again until April 16.
Both the Kings and the Avalanche come into this game off of wins. The Kings took down the Anaheim Ducks 5-1 after falling 6-5 to the Ducks in the game prior.
The 5-1 win was a big one for the Kings as goaltender Troy Grosenick returned to the NHL for the first time in almost six-and-a-half years, making 33 saves en route to the victory. Adrian Kempe netted two goals in the winning effort.
Colorado has played to a 5-4-1 record in its last 10 games played, averaging 2.8 goals scored, while allowing 2.8 goals per game.
Los Angeles has gone 5-2-3 in its last 10 games, averaging 3.1 goals scored per game, while permitting an average of 2.6 goals per game.
The Avalanche: will be without Dennis Gilbert, who is dealing with an injury to his face. J.T. Compher and Conor Timmins are both listed as day-to-day with upper-body injuries.
The Kings will still be without Jaret Anderson-Dolan due to an upper-body injury.
Each of the first two meetings between these teams were close affairs, with the Avalanche winning the opener 3-2 and the Kings securing a victory in game two by a score of 4-2. The Kings and Avalanche haven’t met since January 21.
Dustin Brown leads the Kings with 13 goals, while Mikko Rantanen leads the Avalanche with 12 goals this season. Rantanen also leads the team in points with 25. Anze Kopitar leads the Kings with 31 points.
The over-under has been set at 5.5 total goals and the money line is with Colorado at -225. With the first two games of the series separated by a total of three goals, this could be another close contest. Your best bet for tonight’s NHL West Division tilt is to take the -225 money line with Colorado. Place your bets before the puck drops at 9 PM ET at the Ball Arena.
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