Knigs vs. Blackhawks Pick
Should bettors put their money on the visiting Los Angeles Kings as a small underdog tonight when they play the Chicago Blackhawks at 8:30PM ET?
According to oddsmakers at YouWager, the Blackhawks are listed as a -120 favorite on the spread line. The Kings are a +100 underdog, while the total sits at 5.5 goals. Los Angeles actually opened as a -115 favorite before the line began tilting in favor of Chicago.
As of Monday afternoon, 57 percent of public bets have been placed on the visiting Kings. Online wager info also shows that 62 percent of bets are coming in on the over.
Los Angeles won the first meeting this season by a 3-1 count in Chicago. The Kings have won the last three meetings and are 6-4 over the last 10. The under is 3-2-5, which is a lot of pushes but that is an impossibility with the hook in today’s total.
In their last game, the Kings snapped a three-game losing skid with a 4-2 victory at the Sabres. Los Angeles is still 6-4 over its last 10 games, while the over-under has gone 5-5. Chicago snapped a seven-game losing skid with a 7-1 home destruction of the Capitals last game. The over has gone 5-4-1.
What I see is too much recency bias with this season. Sure, the Kings haven’t played that great of hockey lately. And yes, the Blackhawks did humiliate Washington. But LA is still the best team here and Chicago did have a long losing streak before its last impressive performance. I have to go with the Kings here at even money.
NHL DAILY PREDICTION: LOS ANGELES KINGS +100