Two of the least-penalized clubs in the National Hockey League, the Los Angeles Kings and the Pittsburgh Penguins face off at PPG Paints Arena. Fox Sports West will showcase this East-West matchup, which gets underway at 7 p.m. ET on Saturday, December 15.
Los Angeles Kings at Pittsburgh Penguins Odds
With a -225 moneyline, Pittsburgh heads into the contest as the noticeable favorite. The line for Los Angeles now stands at +185 and oddsmakers have set the Over/Under (O/U) at an even 6 goals. If you want to play the game’s total, you’ll be looking at odds of -115 money on the over and -105 for the under.
The Penguins are 14-17 straight-up (SU) and have hurt moneyline bettors to the tune of -14.8 units so far. That early-season winning percentage is a big slide from what the team managed during the 2017-18 season (47-35). Of its 31 games this season, 13 have gone over the total, while another 13 have gone under and just four have pushed. The team’s 8-8 SU at home this season.
Pittsburgh has converted on 22.4 percent of its power play chances this year, a figure that’s right around league average. On the other hand, its penalty kill is rated sixth overall, and it’s successfully killed off 83.3 percent of all penalties.
As a collective unit, Pittsburgh has been penalized just 3.4 times per game overall this season, 3.6 per game over its last five matchups total, and 3.0 per game over its last five home outings. The team’s had to stave off opposition power plays for just 6.5 minutes per game over its last 10 matchups, overall.
Boasting a .923 save percentage and 26.2 saves per game, Casey DeSmith (10-12-4) has been the principal option in goal for the Penguins this year. DeSmith did just play last night, however, so the Pens might opt to give him a rest and instead roll with Matt Murray (4-7-7 record, .877 save percentage, 4.08 goals against average).
Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin will each be focal points for the Penguins. Crosby (34 points) is up to 15 goals and 19 assists and has recorded two or more points 11 times this year. Malkin has 10 goals and 24 assists to his name and has notched a point in 19 contests.
In the other locker room, Los Angeles is 11-22 straight up (SU) and has lost 13.4 units for moneyline bettors this year. Through 33 regular season contests, 18 of its games have gone under the total, while 14 have gone over and just one has pushed. Los Angeles’ 4-11 SU as the road team this season.
Los Angeles has converted on just 13.7 percent of its power play opportunities this year, a figure that’s ranked 30th in the NHL. On the other hand, its penalty kill unit is ranked 29th overall and it’s successfully killed off 74.3 percent of all opponent power plays.
Los Angeles’ skaters have been penalized only 3.5 times per game in total this season, 4.0 per game over their last five games total, and 3.6 per game over their last five games as the visiting team. The team has had to kill penalties just 7.3 minutes per game over their last 10 outings.
Jack Campbell (2.33 goals against average and .923 save percentage) has been the primary option in goal for Los Angeles. Campbell is averaging 25.0 saves per game and has five wins and eight losses to his credit.
Leading the offensive firepower for the visiting Kings will be Anze Kopitar (eight goals, 12 assists) and Drew Doughty (two goals, 15 assists).
Los Angeles Kings at Pittsburgh Penguins Betting Predictions
Pick: SU Winner \u2013 Penguins, O/U \u2013 Over
Betting Notes
- For both of these clubs, the over has hit in three of their last five matchups.
- The Kings are 5-8 in games where they serve fewer penalty minutes than their opponent and 8-16 when they serve fewer than 10 penalty minutes, in total.
- Pittsburgh skaters have created 10.4 takeaways per game over its last five home games, an improvement over its season average of 8.7 takeaways per game (ranked 9th in the NHL).
- Los Angeles has managed just 1.7 goals per game, while giving up 3.7, over its three-game losing streak.
- Los Angeles has managed 6.0 takeaways per game over its last five road games, an improvement over its season average of 4.2 takeaways per game (ranked 31st).
