The Los Angeles Kings come to (Oh) Carolina for some sports line betting action against the Hurricanes on Thursday, January 26th at the PNC Arena. NHL betting lines pending at SBG Global sportsbook
The Kings
The Kings snapped a four-game losing streak with a 3-1 win over the NJ Devils on Tuesday. Anze Kopitar, Tanner Pearson and Alec Martinez all scored in the first period, while Peter Budaj made 24 saves. The Kings took a 2-0 lead on four shots in the first 1:46 of the game, including a power-play goal 50 seconds into the first period. Jeff Carter, Drew Doughty, and Derek Forbort killed 1:25 of a 1:44 5-on-3 advance for the Devils halfway through the first to defend the two-point lead. Kopitar has had two goals and seven assists in the last eight games, while Carter has had three goals and seven assists in the last nine games. Budaj had his first win in four starts.
Good news for the Kings
Which is good news for the Kings and their sports line betting chances, given that erstwhile starting goalie Jonathan Quick might be out until March. The two-time Stanley Cup-winner was expected to miss three months, but his time was pushed back. In other words, not so quick, Jonathan. Budaj and Jeff Zatkoff will have to continue holding the fort until Quick returns to hopefully give LA a postseason boost in the NHL betting lines. The Kings are one point behind the Calgary Flames in the wild card hunt in the Western Conference, but have played three fewer games.
The Hurricanes
The Hurricanes dropped their fourth consecutive game, a 1-6 loss to the Capitals on Monday. Carolina took an early lead with Jordan Staal’s power play goal at 4:39 of the first period. However, it was all downhill from there – or rather uphill, as Wesley Snipes would say. The Hurricanes allowed six unanswered goals, two in each period of the game. The Canes knew going into it that the final stretch before the All Star break would be rough going, but even the strictest NHL betting lines might not have predicted how ugly it was going to get for Carolina. The Hurricanes have lost the last four straight games by a combine margin of 15 points.
Granted, Carolina faced three of the best teams in the league right now – then again, that’s what happens when and if you make the playoffs; you play against the best of the bunch. Not that the Canes should worry too much about the postseason, though; at 7th in the Metro division and 6th in the Eastern Conference wild card race, might fall short of the playoffs this season as well. On the other hand, if Carolina can’t seem to be able to handle the big boys, they should presumably have a better sports line betting chance at another mid-table team like the Kings. Head coach Bill Peters is fond of calling every game a big one, and called the game versus the Kings “huge.” The problem is, the Canes can’t win the big ones, let alone a huge one.