In their last head-to-head meeting of the regular season, the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Los Angeles Kings face off at the Staples Center. This East-West matchup will get going at 10 p.m. ET on Wednesday, January 29, and it is being televised live on NBC Sports Network.
Tampa Bay Lightning at Los Angeles Kings Odds
Tampa Bay (-200) is favored over Los Angeles (+170) and the Over/Under (O/U) has been set at 6 goals. If gamblers want to wager on this matchup’s total, they’ll be looking at odds of -115 money on the over and -105 for the under.
Tampa Bay is 29-20 straight up (SU) and has lost 3.3 units for bettors taking the moneyline thus far. Through 49 regular season matches, 27 of its games have gone over the total, while 21 have gone under and just one has pushed. As a road team in 2019-20, the Bolts are 14-11 SU.
Tampa Bay currently has the third-strongest power-play unit in the NHL, as it’s converted on 26.6 percent of its extra-man chances this season. On the other hand, its penalty kill is ranked fourth overall, and it’s successfully killed off 83.6 percent of its penalties.
Tampa Bay, as a collective unit, has been sent to the penalty box 4.0 times per game during the 2019-20 season, 3.6 per game over its past five outings total, and 3.6 per game over its last five games as the visiting team. The team has been forced to kill penalties just 8.4 minutes per game over their last 10 outings.
With a .917 save percentage and 28.3 saves per game, Andrei Vasilevskiy (24-12-3) has been the primary option in goal for Tampa Bay this season. If it decides to give him a rest, however, Tampa Bay might turn to Curtis McElhinney (5-8-2 record, .902 save percentage, 3.10 goals against average).
Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos will both look to continue their strong seasons for the visiting Lightning. Kucherov (56 points) is up to 22 goals and 34 assists, and has recorded two or more points in 15 different games. Stamkos has 20 goals and 30 assists to his credit (and has logged a point in 30 games).
On the other side of the rink, Los Angeles is 18-32 straight up (SU) and has lost 8.9 units for moneyline bettors this year. Through 50 regular season matches, 27 of its games have gone under the total, while 21 have gone over and just two have pushed. It’s 11-11 SU as the home team this year.
Los Angeles has converted on just 16.2 percent of its power play chances this year, a figure that’s ranked 27th in the NHL. On the other hand, its penalty kill is ranked 31st overall, and it’s successfully killed off 73.4 percent of all opponent power plays.
The Kings have been penalized only 3.2 times per game this season, and 2.0 per game over their last five match ups. The team’s had to kill penalties just 4.9 minutes per game over their last 10 outings.
Jonathan Quick (25.8 saves per game) has been the top option in the crease for Los Angeles. Quick has 11 wins, 20 losses, and three overtime losses to his name and has maintained a subpar .896 save percentage and 3.01 goals against average this season.
Anze Kopitar (17 goals, 26 assists) will lead the attack for the Kings.
Tampa Bay Lightning at Los Angeles Kings Betting Predictions
Free NHL Tip: SU Winner – Kings, O/U – Over
Betting Trends
- For both of these teams, the over has hit in three of their past five matches.
- Tampa Bay has managed 25.2 shot attempts per game over its last five road games while Los Angeles is averaging 30.2 shots per game over its last five home outings.
- Power plays and penalty kills may have a key role in the outcome of this matchup. The Lightning are 11-7 when they serve fewer penalty minutes than their opponent and 18-11 in games where they serve fewer than 10 penalty minutes, in total. The Kings are 6-11 when they serve fewer penalty minutes than the opposition and 14-25 when they’re in the box for less than 10 minutes.
- Tampa Bay is 2-0 in games decided by a shootout this season while Los Angeles is 0-2 in shootouts.
- Los Angeles is ranked 29th in the NHL this season with 5.4 takeaways per game. That figure’s trended upward, as the team has managed 5.9 takeaways over its last 10 games and 7.4 takeaways over its last five.
- Tampa Bay is ranked 22nd in the NHL this season with 6.9 takeaways per game. That figure has trended down lately, however, as the team has created 5.4 takeaways over its last 10 games and 6.2 takeaways over its last five.
- Tampa Bay could have an advantage if it’s a tight one late. The team’s 13-11 in games decided by one goal, while Los Angeles is 9-14 in such games.
