Bettors Favor Edmonton Over Los Angeles in Todays Only NHL Game
Team Page: Edmonton :: Los Angeles
71% of Bets Placed on Oilers -102 | Matchup | Goalies
The Los Angeles Kings have endured their share losing this season, but they’ve yet to drop a game in 2007.
The Kings will try to post their first three-game winning streak this season when they meet the Edmonton Oilers at Staples Center on Monday.
Oddsmakers have made Los Angeles -108 money line (NHL Odds) favorites for todays game, the over/under has been set at 6 total goals (View NHL Sports Books).
Los Angeles lost six of eight from Dec. 16-31, allowing Phoenix to overtake it in the Pacific Division. The Kings still are last with 37 points, but since have won both of their contests since the New Year.
Los Angeles also has won its last two games in regulation, only the second time this season the team has won back-to-back games without going to overtime or a shootout. The other time it occurred was against St. Louis and the New York Islanders from Oct. 7-10 in the second and third games of the year.
The Kings (16-22-5) opened a four-game homestand by beating Columbus 3-0 on Wednesday, then rallied from a 2-0 deficit to beat Detroit 4-2 on Saturday, snapping a 12-game losing streak against the Red Wings.
"We’re getting there," Kings defenseman Rob Blake said. "Any time we can win two in a row – since the start of the season, we haven’t done that very much. We’ll take that and go from there."
This is only the fourth time Los Angeles has won consecutive games this season, but the squad has been unable to win three straight since a five-game run from Feb. 11-March 7, 2006.
The Kings have won three straight at Staples Center and are hoping to post a repeat of their game with the Oilers on Dec. 28, when seven players scored in a 7-4 victory in Edmonton.
That snapped the OIlers’ four-game winning streak in the series, but they’ve still won eight of the last 12 meetings between the teams.
"It’s big-time for us," said Kings center Michael Cammalleri, who has two goals and four assists during a four-game point streak. "We’re just trying to string a couple of games together. The good teams get seven, eight in a row. We need to do that to do any damage."
Los Angeles meets San Jose on Thursday at Staples Center before heading out on a three-game road trip.
Edmonton (19-18-4) has earned points in three straight games, but it has suffered tough defeats in the last two. After scoring the tying goal with two seconds to play in regulation, the Oilers lost 6-5 in a shootout to Dallas on Thursday before falling 3-2 to Vancouver in overtime on Friday.
The loss to the Canucks came in the opener of a three-game road trip. Edmonton has lost three straight road games and six of its last seven away from home.
"We battled hard to get back into this one," Oilers coach Craig MacTavish said. "It’s just one of those things. You want to be aggressive in overtime yourself, and we were, but this time we got burned by it."
Petr Nedved assisted on Petr Sykora’s tying goal with 2:56 to play in regulation. Nedved, acquired off waivers from Philadelphia on Jan. 2, now has a goal and assist in his first two games with Edmonton.
Sykora has two goals and three assists in a five-goal points streak on the road.
Edmonton, which has lost 10 of its last 13 games, is last in the Northwest Division with 42 points, but is only five points behind the first-place Canucks.
The Oilers wrap up their road on Wednesday against the Sharks.
by: Gary Roberts – theSpread.com – Email Us
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