The pesky Los Angeles Kings won’t simply go away. Not with the kind of offense it showed in Game 2, which dealt the Chicago Blackhawks a soul-crushing 6-2 defeat. In our experts’ picks and predictions, only one out of 11 analysts picked the Kings to win the Western Conference finals. Is it time for the other 10 experts to rethink their picks?
The Kings just made the series more interesting. You could, too, by creating a betting account now and betting on this key Game 3 with a little help from our preview below.
[sc:NHLArticles ]Chicago Blackhawks vs. Chicago Blackhawks Western Conference Finals, Game 3 Preview
Game 1 –May 18, Los Angeles 1 at Chicago 3
Game 2 – May 21, Los Angeles 6 at Chicago 2
Game 3 – May 24, 8:00 PM ET, Chicago (+110) at Los Angeles (-130); total 5.0 – view all NHL lines
Game 4 – May 26, 9:00 PM ET, Chicago at Los Angeles
Game 5 – May 28, 8:00 PM ET, Los Angeles at Chicago
Game 6 (if necessary) – May 30, 9:00 PM ET, Chicago at Los Angeles
Game 7 (if necessary) – June 1, 8:00 PM ET, Los Angeles at Chicago
Betting on the Los Angeles Kings
Coach Darryl Sutter wanted more offense from his players, and the Los Angeles Kings responded by showering Chicago Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford in a barrage of shots on their way to a six-goal game. The Kings will look to have the same pizzazz in their offense when they return home for Game 3, where the under is 2-0-2 in their last four games. The Kings have also won three of their last five home games.
[sc:NHL240 ] True to their never-say-die character in these Playoffs, the Kings did not fade despite falling behind an early two goals to none deficit in the second period. Justin Williams, who was among those missing on offense for the Kings in the past few games, started Los Angeles’ scoring parade late in the same period.
It was then followed by the Jeff Carter show. The eight-year veteran scored three goals in the final period for a natural hat trick.
Carter is now tied with teammate Marian Gaborik for most goals and points in these playoffs with seven and 16, respectively. Although they scored six goals, the team’s regular season scoring leader Anze Kopitar finished with zero points. He needs to contribute on offense. Kopitar only has a goal in the Kings’ last nine games.
Betting on the Chicago Blackhawks
Chicago found out the hard way that even a two-goal lead is not safe against the Kings. The Blackhawks will now trek to Los Angeles, where they are 7-3 in their last 10 visits , hoping to jump back in the driver’s seat in the series.
Chicago lost in part due to a suddenly-faulty penalty kill. The Blackhawks entered the contests boasting the NHL’s best penalty kill in this postseason with a 91.7% success rate, only to allow two goals in Game 2. Although their penalty kill remains sturdy, staying away from the sin bin would be beneficial for Chicago, knowing that Los Angeles has been the deadliest team these Playoffs on the power play.
Against a team that has no quit in them, the Blackhawks’ guard should always be up in this series.
Two of Chicago’s last three road games have gone under in the totals.
Writer’s Prediction
The Blackhawks will show they’ve learned their lesson come Game 3. Chicago (+110) will win back the series lead with a convincing road performance.
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