Colorado Avalanche at Los Angeles Kings NHL Picks & Predictions 12/21/2017

Thursday, December 21, 2017

Staples Center

Get todays NHL hockey odds on this game.

The Colorado Avalanche head to Staples Center to take on the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday, December 21, 2017. The opening line for this contest has the Avalanche at +175 and the Kings at -195.

Colorado has a record of 16-15-2 this year and away from home they have a record of 6-9-1. They are 7th in the Central Division. They have tallied 105 goals and surrendered 109 goals for a point differential of -4. For the year they have an ATS mark of 16-17-0 and an over/under record of 20-12-0. Los Angeles has a record of 21-10-4 including 10-5-2 on home ice this year. They are 2nd in the Pacific Division. They've scored 107 goals and have given up 82 for a goal differential of +25. Their record against the spread is 21-14-0 while their over/under mark is 15-17-0.

Valuable Colorado Avalanche Betting Trends

The Colorado Avalanche are 16-17-0 straight up this year

The Colorado Avalanche are 20-12-0 against the over/under this season

Important Los Angeles Kings Betting Trends

The Los Angeles Kings are 21-14-0 straight up this year

The Los Angeles Kings are 15-17-0 against the over/under this season

Key Colorado Avalanche Injuries

12/18/17 D Sergei Boikov Shoulder is out indefinitely
12/17/17 D Erik Johnson Suspension 2-game suspension (eligible to return 12/23 vs Arizona)
11/19/17 C Vladislav Kamenev Arm IR (11/16)

Key Los Angeles Kings Injuries

12/19/17 D Christian Folin Upper Body IR (12/16)
10/19/17 C Jeff Carter Ankle IR (10/18)

Player Spotlight

Mikko Rantanen has scored 29 total points this year for the Avalanche. He has 10 goals this season with 77 shots on net, giving him a shooting percentage of 13%. He has a total of 19 assists on the year and averages 18.7 minutes played per contest. Nathan MacKinnon averages 19.9 minutes of ice time per game this season. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 14% by tallying 15 goals on 104 attempts. He has 24 assists, giving him a total of 39 points on the year. Semyon Varlamov has 11 wins and 8 losses this season in goal for the Avalanche. He has 671 shots against him and he's surrendered 62 goals. He's made 609 stops for a save percentage of 91%.

Player Spotlight

Anze Kopitar has 39 total points this season for the Kings. He has 17 goals this year with 83 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 21%. He has a total of 22 assists on the year and averages 21.9 minutes played per contest. Dustin Brown averages 19.8 minutes of ice time per contest. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 14% by scoring 12 goals on 89 attempts. He has 16 assists, giving him a total of 28 points on the year. Jonathan Quick has 16 wins and 10 losses this season in net for the Kings. He has 817 shots against him and he's given up 60 goals. He's made 757 saves for a save percentage of 93%.

Useful Team Statistics

The Avalanche have 34 total points this year, which is 23rd in the NHL. They've scored 105 goals while giving up 109 scores, which has them ranked 11th and 8th respectively. They have had 137 power play chances and scored 25 goals on those opportunities for a percentage of 18%. That is 19th in the league. The Avalanche have given up 121 power play opportunities and surrendered 22 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 82%, ranking them 14th when short-handed. They average 30 shots per contest and as a team shoot 10.68% for the year. They allow 32 shot attempts to their opposition per game and have a team save percentage of 90%, which is 24th in the league.

Useful Team Statistics

The Kings are 2nd in the league with a total of 46 points this season. They have 17 power play goals on 105 chances for a percentage of 16%. That is 26th in the NHL. They've given up 119 power play opportunities and surrendered 16 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 87%, ranking 1st overall. As a team, the Kings are 9th with a total of 107 goals scored while they've given up 82 goals this season, ranking 30th in goals against. They average 31 shots per game and have a team shooting percentage of 9.87%. As a unit they give up 32 shots per contest and have a save percentage of 93%, putting them 1st overall in the NHL.

Advanced Statistics

Colorado has a Corsi percentage of 48% as they've tried 1,804 shots on goal while at full strength while they have surrendered 1,958 shots on net when they have a full team on the ice. That ranks them 24th in Corsi percentage. They are 27th in the NHL in Fenwick percentage with 47.4% as they have 1,326 shots while they've given up 1,474 attempts on defense. The Avalanche start possessions in the offensive zone 49.8% of the time while their defensive zone percentage is at 50.2% for the year. That puts them 19th and 11th in the league in zone percentages respectively. They have 900 face-off wins as opposed to 1,111 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 44.8%. That is 31st overall in the NHL. On defense Colorado has 577 hits and they've blocked 484 attempts from opposing offenses, which is 24th in the league.

Advanced Statistics

The Kings are 15th in the league in starting possessions in the offensive zone, doing so 51% of the time. Their defensive zone percentage is at 49% for the season, which is 18th in the NHL. They have 1,068 face-off wins compared to 1,078 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 49.8%. That is 17th in the league. On defense Los Angeles has 876 hits and they have blocked 494 shots from the opposition, which is 17th in the league. Los Angeles is 18th in the NHL in Corsi percentage with 49.4% as they've attempted 2,002 shots on net at full strength while they've given up 2,053 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage of 49.3% ranks 19th as they have 1,518 attempts while they have given up 1,559 shots on the defensive end.

Who will win tonight's Avalanche/Kings NHL game against the spread?

Josh's Pick: Take Colorado +175

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