MINNESOTA vs LOS ANGELES NHL Odds, Pick & Preview

The MINNESOTA and the LOS ANGELES will both be gunning for a victory on 11/8/2018 at 10:35 PM when they meet in a game matchup.

MINNESOTA WILD vs LOS ANGELES KINGS
When: 10:30 PM  ET, Thursday, November 8, 2018
Where: Staples Center, Los Angeles, California

TV: 10:35 PM
LINE: 0
PREDICTION: LOS ANGELES , MINNESOTA

Oddsmakers currently have the MINNESOTA listed as -110-moneyline favorites versus the LOS ANGELES, while the game’s total is sitting at 5.5.

The Los Angeles Kings bid for a bit of payback from the Minnesota Wild on Thursday when the clubs meet at Staples Center. The Wild pushed the then-spiraling Kings’ losing skid to six games with a 4-1 decision on Oct. 25, with Los Angeles announcing a head coaching change four days later.

Minnesota had won seven of eight overall before losing 4-3 to San Jose on Tuesday to fall to 2-2-0 on its seven-game road trip. Matt Dumba pushed his point streak to three games with a goal in the third period for the Wild, who have received an NHL second-best 14 tallies from their blue-liners this season. The Kings answered their loss in Minnesota with wins in three of their last four outings, including two in a row since Willie Desjardins replaced John Stevens as the team’s bench boss. “It was a wakeup call for everybody,” said veteran forward Ilya Kovalchuk, who leads the team in goals (five) and points (14) and shares top honors in assists with defenseman Drew Doughty. “We’re taking responsibility for what happened, and we’re responding to it. We looked in the mirror, and we all know we can do a better job.”

TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, FS North, FS Wisconsin (Minnesota), Sportsnet, FS West (Los Angeles)

ABOUT THE WILD (8-4-2): Veteran Eric Staal could be in line to miss his second straight game as he fell victim to illness shortly after scoring his 400th career goal in St. Louis on Saturday. “To me, he’d have to feel really good (Wednesday night) and have a real good morning skate to feel strong enough to go, so I would say he’s questionable,” coach Bruce Boudreau said. Mikael Granlund, who is tied with Zach Parise and defenseman Ryan Suter with a team-best 13 points, scored a goal against Los Angeles as part of an impressive 10-game point streak that came to a halt at San Jose.

ABOUT THE KINGS (5-8-1): Kovalchuk recorded his third multi-point performance in four outings on Tuesday as he scored a goal and set up two others for Los Angeles, which skated to a win in the first installment of the Freeway Face-Off with a 4-1 triumph over Anaheim. Fellow forward Dustin Brown, who was the Kings’ second-leading scorer last season, has scored three goals and set up two others in four games since returning from a broken finger that he sustained in the preseason. Jeff Carter pushed his point total to five in his last three outings with an assist on Brown’s first-period power-play goal.

OVERTIME

1. Los Angeles has scored a power-play goal in four straight games and killed off all 17 short-handed situations over its last five.

2. The Wild have secured a point in 10 of their last 11 encounters (6-1-4) with the Kings.

3. Los Angeles LW Kyle Clifford scored against Anaheim as well as the first meeting with Minnesota.

PREDICTION: Wild 3, Kings 2

Comments

comments