St. Louis Blues vs. Los Angeles Kings - 12/23/19 NHL Picks, Odds, and Prediction

Game: St. Louis Blues vs Los Angeles Kings

Date: Monday, December 23, 2019

Location: Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA

TV: FSW/FSMW

Odds/Point Spread: Blues (-155) Kings (+140)

Total/Over-Under: 5.5

Staples Center is the venue where Jonathan Quick and the Los Angeles Kings (15-19-4, 8th in the Pacific Division) will play the St. Louis Blues (23-8-6, 1st in the Central Division) on Monday. The Kings open this matchup at +140 while the Blues are priced at -155. The over/under opens at 5.5. The Blues are covering 62.2% of the time, having gone 23-14 SU. The Kings are covering 39.5% of the time, going 15-23 straight up.

The St. Louis Blues step onto the ice with a record of 23 wins and 8 losses, ranking them 1st in the Central Division. During the year thus far, they have scored a total of 114 goals which is 5th in the West and 12th in the NHL. Their goal differential is +19, ranking them 6th in the NHL. The Blues have earned a total of 52 points, which is 2nd in the NHL and 1st in the conference. in respect to shots toward the net, they have earned a total of 1,116 which is 12th in the Western Conference and 23rd in the NHL. As a team, St. Louis has collected a total of 721 hits which means they have an average of 19.5 per game. They have earned a total of 362 blocks for the season. Looking after the net for St. Louis is Jordan Binnington from Richmond Hill, Ontario. He is 26 years old and has totaled 1,526 mins protecting the net this season. Binnington is conceding 2.44 goals per contest which has him placed 7th among West goaltenders and 15th among goaltenders in the NHL. For the year, he's allowed 62 goals. He's earned a save % of .920 which has him placed 8th among West goaltenders.

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The St. Louis Blues were on the winning side of the scoreboard with a 5 - 2 win over the San Jose Sharks the last time they stepped on the ice. The Blues had a impressive offensive performance in this win. In their game, they netted 5 of the 28 shots they put on goal. In addition, they had 2 power play attempts and were able to notch 1 goal out of those chances. St. Louis ended up with 6 penalty mins while out there on the ice. The Corsi for the Blues sat at 36 and the Corsi against was 50 which means they had a Corsi percentage of 41.9%. Their Fenwick was 32 and the Fenwick against was 38, which means they had a rate of 45.7%. They earned 26 face-off wins and lost 23 tries to control the puck. Their starts in the offensive zone were rated at 50.0% and they had a PDO of 108.7 for this matchup. Concerning opponent stats, the San Jose Sharks racked up 36 shots. They finished with a total of 4 minutes in the box and they had 3 power play attempts.

The Kings are the team on the other side of the ice and for the season they sit with 15 victories and 19 losses. When it comes to goal differential, they sit 14th in the conference and 28th in the NHL with -21. They currently have a total of 98 goals for the year which is good for 13th in the West. Los Angeles has a save percentage as a team of .889 which currently has them ranked 28th in the NHL, which means there could be plenty of chances to score if they are aggressive. They have a shooting percentage of 7.7% ranking them 15th in the West. In goal for Los Angeles is Jonathan Quick who is having a tough campaign by giving up 3.01 goals per game and that ranks him 22nd in the Western Conference and 42nd among goalies in the NHL. In the 1,494 mins he's been on the ice this year, he's allowed 75 goals. He holds a save % of .895, which ranks him 26th in the Western Conference and 52nd among goalies in the NHL.

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The Los Angeles Kings opposed the Buffalo Sabres in a matchup where the Kings ended up losing by a mark of 3 - 2. While out there on the ice, Los Angeles earned a 59.8% Corsi rating. They got to that percentage by earning a Corsi of 52 and the team opposite of them having a Corsi of 35. Their Fenwick percentage was 53.8% by earning a Fenwick of 35 and the Sabres having earned a 30 Fenwick. This Corsi percentage speaks to the kind of game that Los Angeles played and we'd say it was a below average outing in all. Their PDO at even strength was 96.3 and their percentage of oZS was 48.1%. The Kings converted 2 goals out of the 27 shots on goal they tried. They had 2 power play opportunities in this outing but weren't able to put one in the back of the net. As for the opposition, the Sabres had 3 power play opportunities but weren't able to put the puck in the net. Los Angeles conceded 28 shots on goal and the Sabres racked up 4 penalty minutes.

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

Josh's Pick: Take St. Louis (-155)

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