Liontips
Los Angeles — Utah: NHL match forecast
Los Angeles and Utah will play for only the second time in NHL history on February 23. At the end of October, the Kings confidently outplayed the debutants in California, although the guests could easily have clung to the points. The Kings intend to return to the fight for the highest positions in the West, while the newcomers are trying to get to the top eight. Both teams took a break in good shape. Who is better prepared now? This is stated in the forecast for the confrontation
Command Analysis
Los Angeles Kings
USACurrent form
Los Angeles is chasing the leaders of the Western Conference and the Pacific Division and has several matches in reserve. The team from California is located only on the seventh line in its half of the table, but it is quite capable of at least approaching the positions of Vegas and Edmonton, which are held in the top four. Ange Kopitar's squad looked indistinct in the middle and second half of January, but gradually began to recover. After a disastrous start to the away series, the Kings ended it with a 4-2 victory in Raleigh over the local Carolina. After getting some time to rest, the Kings returned home and kicked off with a big win against Montreal (6-3). After defeating Dallas (5-4, B), Jim Hiller's team had an indistinct match with Anaheim (1-2, B), scoring only one goal.
Ange Kopitar is one of the leaders of the home team's offense with 45 points (13+32) in the goal+pass system. Adrian Kempe (25+21), who regularly completes the Kings' attacks, has exactly the same number of scoring points. Recently, the Kings have lost some ground in terms of implementation, and in the previous eight matches they scored only 17 accurate hits, although they managed to score 15 goals in the last four games.
The Kings remain one of the best defensive teams in the conference and in the league as a whole. At the same time, in the last five matches, the Kings have conceded 13 times, while losing in five out of eight matches. Darcy Kemper had been on the ice in six of his previous eight starts and wasn't always reliable. The Canadian has made 91.92% of his saves this season. David Rittich got another chance in the match against the Stars and was able to take it, but the very next day he could not help his partners beat the Ducks.
Disqualifications and injuries
All the home team leaders will play against Utah. The participation of Darcy Kemper and Mikey Anderson is questionable.
Interesting betting trends
- Los Angeles' opponents make only 25 shots per match on the Kings' goal
The Kings are great defensively and don't let their opponents bother their goalies too often.
- According to statistics, the Kings get 7.75 minutes of penalty time.
Los Angeles is not very disciplined and is usually eliminated at least three times per game.
Utah Hockey Club
USACurrent form
Utah is gradually moving up to the top eight in the West, but so far it occupies only the tenth place in the conference. The newcomers do not lose hope of reaching the finals of the tournament in their first season, but the hosts have only 57 points after 56 matches. The team led by Andre Turigny was bad at the end of January and lost five matches in a row, although in two home matches the debutants still clung to the scoring points. In the final match of the last home series, the debutants beat Philadelphia (3:2, OT), and at the start of the current guest tour they managed to beat Columbus in Ohio (3:2, OT). Before the trip to the capital, Clayton Keller's squad was defeated in the Role by the local hurricanes (3-7), but the next day they unexpectedly won in the US capital (5-4, B).
The captain of "Utah" remains its top scorer at the moment. Clayton Keller scored 60 points (20+40) in the goal+pass system and is 17 points ahead of Logan Cooley (15+28), who is currently in the infirmary. Dylan Gunter returned to action after injury and is on the third line in the list of the most productive players of the club (20+21), while in the first four matches he earned seven points and was very good. Nick Schmaltz (11+30) is also among the league's hundred leaders.
Connor Ingarm was injured in the game against Washington and is unlikely to be able to help his team in California. The Canadian goalkeeper made 88.39% of his saves and never left the court without missing a goal. Karel Weimelka looks much better than his colleague. He blocked 90.85% of shots on his possessions and made one shutout in 34 duels.
Disqualifications and injuries
Robert Bortuzzo will not be able to participate in the upcoming match. Connor Ingram's condition is still in question.
Interesting betting trends
- Utah is averaging 2.82 goals per game this season.
Beginners don't always play poorly offensively, but their performance is only getting worse.
- The Salt Lake club throws 28 times per game on average.
The debutants don't shoot that many goals, but they managed to realize 10.1% of the chances.
Trends
Bet 1st period: total less than 1.5 goals
In the last three out of five games with the Kings, at least two goals were not scored in the first period.
1.85Bet 3rd period: "Utah" will score
The Kings have conceded in the third period in the last eight games.
1.63Tip and bets
Los Angeles showed mediocre results before the break and lost a huge number of points during January. The Kings stopped winning at home, and even in their last game against Anaheim, they couldn't succeed. "Utah" broke a series of defeats at the start of February and began to gain excellent form. The Salt Lake team has lost only one out of four matches, and in the last seven starts it has only gone without points twice. We are waiting for a viscous hockey game, in which the guests have a good chance of scoring points. Let's play a double chance for the guests.
Forecast - "Utah" will not lose in 1.90
Betting on an individual total
Los Angeles has scored quite a few goals this season and has only 2.85 goals on average per match. Utah has a good goalkeeper from the Czech Republic, who has excellent reliability in this regular season. On the road, Andre Turigny's players play quite disciplined and, on average, do not miss more than twice per match.
We're betting on Los Angeles' individual total of less than three goals with a coefficient of 1.90.
Bet on the total
The teams met twice and played rather boring matches. Even during the pre-season training, the opponents scored only four accurate shots for two and mostly thought about the safety of their possessions. Los Angeles is very good at defending on its ice, but right now the hosts are far from doing everything offensively. We believe in the grassroots nature of the confrontation.
We take a total of less than 5.5 goals for 1.85
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