St. Louis Looks to Continue Road Dominance in Tinseltown
The St. Louis Blues have won four of their last five games in Los Angeles but are just 1-3-0 in four games this season against the Kings. The Blues will be looking to end their recent struggles vs the Kings on Friday night in the first game of a back-to-back set in Los Angeles.
- Date/Time: March 5, 9 p.m. ET
- Arena: Staples Center
- TV Coverage: ESPN+
- Opening Odds: Blues -123 | O/U 5.5 (Line History)
- Blues vs Kings Matchup Report
Opening Odds Analysis
The Blues opened as -123 favorites in this matchup but have since been bet up to -135. The Kings, who are just 3-3-3 at home this season, are going off at +115 to pull off another upset over St. Louis. The total is set at 5.5 goals.
St. Louis News & Notes
St. Louis defeated the Anaheim Ducks 3-2 on Wednesday night to improve to 3-0-0 over its last three games and to 8-1-0 in its last nine on the road. The Blues appear to be back on track after hitting a rough patch in February in which they went 3-6-1 over a 10-game span that included two straight losses to the Kings.
The offense is averaging five goals per game over St. Louis’s current three-game winning streak after scoring only 1.6 goals per game in its previous five contests, going 1-4-0 over that stretch.
Vladimir Tarasenko is listed as questionable for the Blues on Friday night. The 29-year-old has played only 10 games since the 2018-19 season when he scored 33 goals and recorded 35 assists. Tarasenko could make his 2021 debut on Friday or Saturday night if he is cleared for action.
Los Angeles News & Notes
The Kings peppered Antti Raanta with 42 shots on Wednesday night but only managed to get two by him as Los Angeles lost to the Arizona Coyotes 3-2 at home.
Los Angeles has been a streaky team all season; the Kings have now lost three straight since going 6-0 over their previous six games and 0-4-1 over the five before that. That inconsistency shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise for a team so heavily built around young prospects this season.
After finishing the 2019-20 campaign with a 29-35-6 record, the Kings have taken a solid step forward this season with a 9-8-4 record to date. Veterans like Anze Kopitar, Drew Doughty and Dustin Brown are still leading the way, but a young core with promising players like center Gabriel Vilardi and goaltender Cal Petersen point to a bright future in Los Angeles.
Betting Pick: Los Angeles +115
For whatever reason, the Kings have had the Blues’ number this season. That may or may not continue in this back-to-back, but it’s tough to pass on the Kings getting underdog odds considering how competitive they’ve been of late.
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- St. Louis is 4-1 in its last 5 games at Los Angeles.
- Los Angeles is 16-5 on the puckline this season.
- The UNDER is 6-2 in Los Angeles’s last 8 games.
