Pittsburgh has won the last three head-to-head meetings against Los Angeles. Will Mike Sullivan's men be able to extend their winning streak over the Kings? We think so!
Team Form
With the arrival of the "kings" Willie Desjardins on the coaching bridge, the team's game has noticeably changed, it has become more cheerful, and over time, the results have improved. At the end of December, there was a segment when Los Angeles was able to beat Winnipeg, San Jose, Vegas and Arizona in turn. A series of successful matches allowed the Californian club to leave the last line standings Western Conference, however, with the advent of the new year, the effect of the change of mentor gradually began to disappear. In the last five games, the "Kings" won one single victory over the "Edmonton". The last match against the outsider of the Eastern Conference Ottawa was disgusting: a good first period turned out to be goalless, in the second segment the Senators seized the initiative and led 2: 1, at the beginning of the third twenty minutes the guests increased the gap in the score, after which Los Angeles lowered hands and for the remaining 18 minutes created practically nothing in the attack. Of course, with such a game, Willie Desjardins' wards are in last place in the league's summary table, having 37 points out of 90 possible (41%).
“Pittsburgh” failed the beginning of the season, in October had a series of ten games in which he won only one victory, after which the Pennsylvanians approached the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings. Realizing where the team was, Mike Sullivan's wards turned on for real and began to gradually get out of the crisis, and at the end of December they won eight victories in a row, conceding only nine goals during this period (1.13 on average per game), which is for such an attacking team can be considered a success. In a game against Chicago, an eight-match winning streak interrupted, but in the final home match before the trip to California, the "penguins" managed to defeat the "Florida" - 5:1. An excellent breakthrough allowed Pittsburgh to move to fourth place in the Eastern Conference standings, gaining 54 points out of 86 possible (63%).
History of personal meetings
Within the framework of the NHL, over the past ten years, the teams have played 15 face-to-face meetings with each other. The Kings have six victories, while the Penguins have been stronger on nine occasions. The puck difference is also on the side of the guests of the upcoming meeting - 38:30. In the current championship, the rivals played one personal meeting, which took place at the PPG Paints Arena and ended with the victory of Pittsburgh in overtime - 4:3.
Bets and Predictions
Los Angeles is the worst team in the league this moment, which, after a small breakthrough, again noticeably lost and lost four matches out of the last five. Pittsburgh, after a disastrous start to the championship, scored a great move and won nine victories in the previous ten matches, moving from the basement of the standings to fourth place. Team leaders Sidney Crosby, Jake Günzel, Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel are in good shape, and the result of the team depends on their performance. The "kings" have none of the leaders in recent meetings less and less noticeable. In addition, the Penguins won the last three head-to-head meetings against Los Angeles, and there is no reason that this series will be interrupted. You can bet on the victory of Pittsburgh in the bookmaker "1xBet" with a coefficient of 2.10.
Los Angeles has recently been extremely modest in attack: in eight previous fights, Willie Desjardins' wards scored only 13 goals (1.63 on average per game), while only once they were able to score more than two goals per game. After a poor start to the season, Mike Sullivan did a quality job with the Pence defense, which paid off: in the last ten meetings, the Penguins conceded only 15 goals (1.5 on average per game), while only once the opponent managed to score more than two heads. Based on this, it begs the bet on
On December 16 at 00:00 Moscow time, the Pittsburgh Penguins will play with the Los Angeles Kings, the match will be held as part of the NHL regular season.
Pittsburgh
“Penguins” swayed for a long time, but now the club has found its game and began to consistently score points. The Pittsburgh Penguins have played well this season to start drawing conclusions, the team played 31 games and scored 34 points. Now the “Penguins” occupy the eighth line in the East, behind the leader by 17 points. The Pittsburgh Penguins scored 106 goals and conceded 101. On December 15, the club played against Boston. In that match, the score was opened only at the end of the first period, the striker of the hosts Derek Grant scored. The Pittsburgh Penguins also won the second part of the game, the score was 2-1. In the third period, the clubs scored two goals each, and the match ended in victory for the “Penguins” with a score of 5-3, the hosts scored the fifth goal into an empty net.
Los Angeles
“Los Angeles Kings” still can not start to play consistently and score points, the club has won only one game in the last six in the championship. This regular season, the Crowns have played 33 matches, scored only 24 points. “Los Angeles Kings” still closes the standings of the West, the club has moved away from the playoff zone by 15 points. Hammer "Queens" very little, on account of their 33 games 72 abandoned washers missed 102. Fourteenth of December, "Los Angeles Kings" played on the road with "Columbus". Quite unexpectedly, the guests opened the scoring at the very beginning of the meeting, playing in the majority. Unfortunately for Coron fans, this was the only accurate throw performed by the Los Angeles Kings in that fight. As a result, “Columbus” quite easily beat “Queens” with a score of 4-1.
Statistics and personal meetings
The Pittsburgh Penguins and Los Angeles Kings have not yet crossed paths this season. The last face-to-face meeting between the Penguins and the Queens is dated February 16th. In that match, as today, the hosts were the guys from “Pittsburgh”, then the hosts beat the “Corons” with a score of 3-1. The last five head-to-head meetings between the clubs ended with a total of 4.5 less.
My forecast
The Los Angeles Kings have huge problems both with the implementation of their chances and with the defense, the club has already lost three games in a row in the league and I think that today they will suffer their fourth defeat. The Pittsburgh Penguins are now great shape, in their home arena, the “Penguins” are required to easily beat the “Crowns”. I want to bet on the hosts to win with a handicap of -1. It is unlikely that today the “Queens” will be able to oppose something to the owners of the arena. You can take a chance and take a handicap of -2, I personally expect a rout in this match. You can also play an individual total "Pittsburgh Penguins" 3.5 more.
Pittsburgh is back on horseback. The infirmary is almost empty and the "penguins" win 10 recent matches out of 11. Only Chicago was underestimated at home and lost in an assist shootout 3-5. Such agility allowed the team to rise to 4th place in the Eastern Conference.
Los Angeles Kings
Los Angeles survived. Having a pretty decent, but completely unbalanced composition, the “kings” are already in last place in the overall renulary table. In the last match, even Ottawa managed to lose at home, which had only 5 wins in 20 away matches before the match against L-A. Lose "Kings" in 5 of the last 7 matches.
Forecast
Xom Pittsburgh will not be superfluous to insure in this match, especially since the proposed odds allow you to do this painlessly. As for tb 4.5. The current Pittsburgh required to pass the rate of 5 goals able to score on their own. In the last match he scored 7 goals. In the previous Florida, he scored 5 goals. Before that, although Chicago lost, it scored 3 goals. A little earlier, Winnepeg scored 4, and before that Detroit 5, St. Louis 6, and the Rangers scored 7 pieces. And all this in the last 8 matches, “Pigvins” have done. In 43 games, Pittsburgh scored 159 goals. only 3 teams in the league have more. But at the same time, Crosby, Malkin and company pass into their own net regularly. AT last round even the weak Anaheim, losing the last 10 matches in a row, scored 4 goals for him. The same Chicago 5. For sure, without 1-2 goals, Los Angeles will not leave the ice. And all together, this will lead to Pittsburgh not losing in a scoring match.
On January 13, 2019 at 06:30 Moscow time, the National Hockey League match between Los Angeles and Pittsburgh teams will take place. In this review you will find our free prediction and bet on this match.
Los Angeles has only won one of their last 5 games, against Edmonton when the Kings scored four unanswered goals. As a result of this game, Los Angeles is currently in the last 15th line of the Western Conference standings with 37 points after 45 games.
Pittsburgh is fourth in the Eastern Conference with 54 points after 43 games. Of the last eleven matches, Pittsburgh lost only once, losing to Chicago 3:5. The last 2 matches the team won against Florida 5:1 and Pittsburgh 7:4
Forecast for the match Los Angeles - Pittsburgh
The penguins play this game without rest, but I still don't see why they lost today. Pittsburgh has won 10 of their last 11 games, and the Kings are the worst team in the league. The Penguins have averaged 4.50 goals per game in their last 10 games, while Los Angeles has only 1.75 goals in their last eight games. Our prediction is Pittsburgh win