Free NHL Hockey Prediction: Kings vs Stars NHL Odds
Looking for Los Angeles Kings vs. Dallas Stars free hockey plays & NHL Odds? NHL betting sees the Kings taking on the Stars on Friday December 23rd at the American Airline Center in Dallas, TX. Cappers Picks provides complimentary expert handicapping picks on all NHL Hockey matchups all season long so stay tuned for more FREE daily NHL hockey predictions.
(13-11-7) Los Angeles Kings vs. Dallas Stars (12-11-7)
Date: Friday December 23rd
Time: 5:30 PM
Venue: American Airline Center in Dallas, TX
NHL Hockey Moneyline Odds:
NHL Hockey Puck Line Odds: Stars -130
NHL Betting Total: 5.5 (+105)
Live NHL Odds
Updated Sportsbook Bonuses For TodayClick here to view… NHL ATS Stats & Expert NHL Betting Insight!
In a season with each of these two teams having deep playoff run aspirations, they have certainly gotten off to starts that would suggest they may be in tough to do so.
Both Los Angeles and Dallas sit in the 5th spot in their respective Western Conference divisions, though the Kings have the only winning record of the two.
Los Angeles Kings
The Kings have been able to weather the storm of losing star goaltender, Jonathan Quick, fairly well thus far. Quick went down to a significant injury in their first game of the season and has yet to return to the ice.
Check out the free sports picks from Cappers Picks experts today!
LA sits in 9th overall, though, in goals against with 2.4 allowed per game. They’ve been able to manage this mark in large part to an 8th best penalty kill percentage, with an efficiency rate of 83.8% on the year.
One of their best penalty killers has been between the pipes with Quick’s fill-in, Peter Budaj, who has a .916 SV% on the year with a 2.11 GAA after being thrust into starting duties.
Defenseman Drew Doughty is yet again a workhorse for the Kings, leading the team in ATOI at a whopping 27:02 per game average. The Norris winner is proving just how important he is to his team, and has chipped in 17 points in his 32 games played
If the Kings want to shoot up the rankings, they will likely need a jump in production from their star center, Anze Kopitar. While Kopitar has led the Kings in scoring each season for the past decade, he has just 15 points on the year and is well behind team-leader, Jeff Carter, and his 26.
Dallas Stars
The Stars have yet to reproduce their goals per game rate from a season ago, where they led the league at 3.0 on average. The drop has resulted in them dropping the close, high-scoring games, and has exposed their lack of team defense and poor goaltending.
The Stars sit at 2.5 goals per game in 2016-17, which is good for the 18th overall ranking. Missing Patrick Sharp for the majority of the season certainly hurts their secondary scoring, as well as the dip in production from Jason Spezza.
Tyler Seguin is doing everything he can to keep the point totals up, registering 32 in his 34 games played which sits him in the top-10 in the league.
Patrick Eaves has been a pleasant surprise, with 20 points in 33 games and 12 of those coming by way of goals. It’s not ideal, however, for a team with Jamie Benn on the roster to have Patrick Eaves as your leading goal scorer.
[dfads params=’groups=234&limit=1&return_javascript=1′]
Antti Niemi has slowly started to turn his season around in net after sitting sub-.900 in save percentage for much of the beginning of the year. He now has a .911 mark and a 2.85 GAA, both of which best his counterpart, Kari Lehtonen, and his .894 and 2.92, respectively.
NHL Betting Trends:
- Los Angeles is 6-9-2 on the road
- Los Angeles has an even goal differential on the season at 0
- Los Angeles is 4-5 in December games
- Dallas is 9-5-3 at home
- Dallas ranks 27th overall in both goals against per game and penalty kill percentage
- Dallas have only won back to back games once this season
Free Los Angeles Kings vs Dallas Stars NHL Hockey Prediction:
Dallas has been decent at home this year, with a 9-5-3 record. They will face off against a defensive minded team, however, who rank as one of the more difficult teams to score on.
In my mind, this is essentially a pick’em.
4* Free NHL Betting Pick: LA +120
I like the defensive team, despite being on the road to prevail considering Dallas’ inept team defense and the two teams essentially scoring at about the same clip of approx. 2.5 goals per game.
NHL Free Score Prediction: Los Angeles 3 – Dallas 2
If you’re looking for more NHL picks like this Los Angeles Kings vs Dallas Stars matchup we’ll be providing 4* free NHL predictions on the blog during the entire 2016 NHL season, and check out our Experts for guaranteed premium & free NHL Hockey picks!
CappersPicks.com has Stanley Cup odds up on a ton of futures, and you will also find NHL lines up for early games as well.