Los Angeles Kings vs. Pittsburgh Penguins - 12/14/19 NHL Picks, Odds, and Prediction

Game: Los Angeles Kings vs Pittsburgh Penguins

Date: Saturday, December 14, 2019

Location: PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, PA

TV: FSW/ATTP

Odds/Point Spread: Kings (+114) Penguins (-126)

Total/Over-Under: 6

PPG Paints Arena is the venue where Matt Murray and the Pittsburgh Penguins (18-10-4, 4th in the Metropolitan Division) will take on the Los Angeles Kings (13-18-2, 8th in the Pacific Division) on Saturday. The Penguins open this matchup at -126 while the Kings are priced at +114. The over/under opens at 6. The Kings cover 39.4% of the time, having gone 13-20 SU. Pittsburgh covers 54.8% of the time, going 17-14 straight up.

The Los Angeles Kings step onto the ice with a record of 13 victories and 18 defeats, which puts them at 8th in the Pacific Division. So far this season, they have earned a total of 82 goals which is 15th in the West and 28th in the league. Their goal differential is -22, which puts them at 28th in the league. The Kings have earned a total of 28 points, which is 29th in the league and 15th in the Western Conference. In connection with shots toward the net, they have earned a total of 1,118 which is 2nd in the Western Conference and 2nd in the league. As a unit, Los Angeles has racked up a total of 515 hits which means they are averaging 15.6 per contest. They have earned a total of 328 blocks for the year. The man between the pipes for Los Angeles is Jonathan Quick from Milford, Connecticut. He is 34 years old and has racked up 1,307 mins defending the goal this year. Quick is allowing 3.03 goals against average which has him sitting 23rd among Western Conference goaltenders and 46th among goaltenders in the NHL. Over the course of this season, he's surrendered 66 goals. He has a save percentage of .893 which has him sitting 29th among Western Conference goaltenders.

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The Los Angeles Kings went home feeling good about their game by earning a 2 - 1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks in their previous contest. The Kings had an offensive game that was below their expectations in the victory. In this game, they scored on 2 of the 27 shots they attempted. They also had 3 power play chances and were able to notch 1 goal out of those attempts. Los Angeles ended up with a total of 11 penalty mins for this outing. The Corsi for the Kings was 37 and the Corsi against was 52 which means they had a Corsi percentage of 41.6%. Their Fenwick sat at 29 and the Fenwick against sat at 42, which means they had a Fenwick percentage of 40.8%. They won 22 face-off wins and were beaten on 18 of the face-offs. The offensive zone starts for them were rated at 37.8% and they had a PDO of 105.3 for this one. With regard to the opposition's stats, the Anaheim Ducks racked up a total of 37 shots. They ended the game with 11 penalty minutes and they earned 3 power play opportunities.

The Penguins are the team looking to add points to their total and for the current year they sit with 18 victories and 10 defeats. In the matter of goal differential, they are currently ranked 3rd in the East and 4th in the NHL with +19. They currently have a total of 104 goals for this season which has them ranked at 7th in the Eastern Conference. Pittsburgh has a team save % of .908 which currently has them ranked 13th in the NHL, which tells us there should be some chances to score. They are shooting 9.6% putting them at 8th in the East. In net for Pittsburgh is Matt Murray who is having an ok year by surrendering 2.85 goals per game and that ranks him 19th among East goaltenders and 34th among goalies in the NHL. In the 1,222 mins he has played this season, he's given up 58 goals. His save percentage is .897, which has him ranked 27th among East goaltenders and 50th among goalies in the NHL.

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The Pittsburgh Penguins faced the Columbus Blue Jackets in an outing where the Penguins notched a victory by a tally of 1 - 0. In this game, Pittsburgh had a 58.7% Corsi rating. That percentage was had by having a Corsi of 44 while their opponent had a Corsi of 31. They had a Fenwick percentage of 60.4% by way of having a Fenwick of 29 and the Blue Jackets ending the game with a 19 Fenwick. These Corsi stats speak to the kind of game that Pittsburgh had and it could be said that this team has had better games. They had a PDO at even strength of 100.0 and they finished this one with an oZS percentage of 42.9%. The Penguins converted 1 goal of the 32 shots on goal they tried. They had 3 power play opportunities in this outing and converted 1 out of those opportunities. Regarding their opponent, the Blue Jackets had 1 power play attempt but were not able to notch a goal. Pittsburgh conceded 17 shots on goal and the Blue Jackets racked up a total of 6 minutes in the box.

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

Josh's Pick: Take Los Angeles (+114)

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