The Los Angeles Kings and St. Louis Blues meet Monday in NHL action at the Enterprise Center. The Los Angeles Kings look for a win after splitting their first 10 games. The St. Louis Blues look to snap a 4-game losing streak.
The Los Angeles Kings are averaging 3.5 goals per game and are scoring on 19.2 percent of their power play opportunities. Gabriel Vilardi leads Los Angeles with 7 goals, Anze Kopitar has 8 assists and Trevor Moore has 31 shots on goal. Defensively, the Los Angeles Kings are allowing 4.10 goals per game and are killing 77.8 percent of their opponent’s power plays. Jonathan Quick has given up 25 goals on 205 shots faced, and Cal Petersen has allowed 14 goals on 104 shots.
The St. Louis Blues are averaging 2.57 goals per game and are scoring on 29.4 percent of their power play opportunities. Justin Faulk leads St. Louis with 3 goals, Brayden Schenn has 7 assists, and Jordan Kyrou has 24 shots on goal. Defensively, the St. Louis Blues are allowing 3.57 goals per game and are killing 81.3 percent of their opponent’s power plays. Jordan Binnington has allowed 13 goals on 134 shots faced, and Thomas Greiss has given up 8 goals on 83 shots.
The Kings are 10-23 in their last 33 Monday games and 2-5 in their last 7 vs. Western Conference. The Blues are 1-5 in their last 6 home games and 0-4 in their last 4 overall. The over is 6-1-1 in Kings last 8 overall. The under is 4-1 in Blues last 5 Monday games. The home team is 5-1 in the last 6 meetings. The under is 4-1 in the last 5 meetings.
The St. Louis Blues are going to get the benefit of the doubt more times than not at home, and their roster suggests they’re better than what they’ve shown throughout 7 games. However, the Blues simply aren’t playing well up to this point, and it makes me hesitant to back them in the favorite role. The Los Angeles Kings have their issues as well, but they’ve shown some offensive firepower, and they’ve absolutely feasted on losing teams dating back to last year. I’ll take a stab with the road dog here, given the shaky form of the Blues.