Sports Betting Overview
The Los Angeles Kings are starting to look a lot like the Philadelphia Flyers from a few years ago. The Kings even imported the Flyers’ top two scorers, Jeff Carter and Mike Richardson, to help the struggling Los Angeles offense. But hockey trades are a lot like betting March Madness in that you have to give something up to get something. When the Kings brought in Jeff Carter, they gave up young defenseman Jack Johnson to do so. One of the things the Flyers was able to do for those few years was keep key talent on the offensive and defensive side of the game. When the Kings gave up Johnson to get Carter, Los Angeles went heavy on the offense and light on the critical defense.
The Anaheim Ducks are starting to make believers out of a lot of teams in the Western Conference. After spending weeks near the very bottom of the Western Conference standings, the Ducks have started the slow climb towards a playoff spot. The pay per head sports experts are starting to hear how new head coach Bruce Boudreau has stuck to his game plan since the day he was hired and it is now starting to sink in with the players. The Ducks are 16-13-2 at home and have been improving its home record for the past couple of weeks. However, the Kings are 12-9-8 on the road, which sets up an interesting match up in this game.
Los Angeles Kings
It is hard for NHL fans to understand why the Los Angeles Kings continue to underachieve. A betonline.com review of the Los Angeles roster shows a team that has prolific scorers, tough defensemen and a strong goaltender. But the Kings made the Jeff Carter trade because the prolific scorers on the team are not coming through on the scoreboard. The Kings remain a tough defensive team with a very reliable goaltender. But the Kings are also the lowest scoring team in the NHL and that is not going to get Los Angeles any closer to a Western Conference playoff spot.
Anaheim Ducks
The Ducks came into the week with a record of 7-1-2 in the previous 10 games and riding a two-game winning streak. As the NHL trade deadline 2012 gets closer, it looks like the Ducks may be buyers rather than sellers. After having a rough start to the season, goaltender Jonas Hiller is finally giving Anaheim the kind of play it had been expecting from him. Hiller is 3-1-1 in his last five starts and that includes a win over the high-flying Chicago Blackhawks and a shutout of the Florida Panthers. As Hiller started to develop the hot hand, the rest of the team seemed to follow him. The Ducks are very close to bringing its road record to .500 and this trip to Los Angeles has two extremely important points on the line.
The Bottom Line
The Kings just cannot pump life into its offense no matter how hard it tries. The arrival of Jeff Carter has done little to spark a Los Angeles team that has been unable to score key goals at key moments. The Ducks are rolling and it does not appear that Anaheim cares if the games are at home or on the road.
Gambling Advisor blog Pick: Anaheim Ducks
