Florida Panthers (40-13-5) vs. Los Angeles Kings (32-20-8)
Sunday, March 13, Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA
How to Watch
- 10 p.m. ET, ESPN+
Betting Lines
- FLA: -1.5
- O/U: 6.5
- FLA: 32-25 ATS, 34-20 O/U
- LAK: 36-23 ATS, 26-32 O/U
Recent Play (last 10 games):
- Panthers: 6-3-1, 3.7 goals per game, 3.3 goals against per game
- Kings: 7-3-0, 4.6 goals per game, 2.9 goals against per game
Key Injuries
- Viktor Arvidsson, LW, LAK: Out
- Andres Athanasiou, C, LAK: Out
- Drew Doughty, D, LAK: Questionable
- Anton Lundell, C, FLA: Questionable
Matchup
These aren’t your two most traditional hockey markets, but the Panthers visiting the Kings provides a primetime East vs. West showdown out in Los Angeles on Sunday night.
Florida’s ascent toward becoming a power in the Eastern Conference is nearly complete — doing so even while losing their head coach Joel Quenneville toward the start of the season after his connection with the Chicago Blackhawks scandal involving Kyle Beach.
It just proves what kind of talent this roster possesses and just how dangerous of a team they are. Unlucky circumstances have seen the Panthers slowly building their way up toward contention for years, but they still haven’t even been the best team in their state as the Tampa Bay Lightning have won the previous two Stanley Cup titles.
This appears to be the year where they might be able to get over that hump to get past their in-state rivals — they’re five points ahead entering Sunday night’s tilt against the Kings — and make a legitimate run toward a Stanley Cup appearance for the first time since 1996.
They have a ridiculously potent offense to thank for that. Their 243 goals scored this season are 36 more than the second-place Toronto Maple Leafs. Jonathan Huberdeau is having the season of his life (18G, 64 A), sparking an offense that is getting huge production from Aleksander Barkov and Sam Reinhart.
The Kings have been one of the major surprises of the NHL this season after collecting just 49 points in 56 games last year.
Their 72 points are good for second in the Pacific Division, spurred on by the play of Anze Kopitar (15 G, 31 A, 56 Pts in 60 games) — one of the last holdovers from the Kings teams that won Stanley Cups in 2012 and 2014. Even more impressive is that they’ve been able to do this with less-than-stellar goaltending from Calvin Petersen and Jonathan Quick.
For more sports betting tips, visit TailgateSports.com
Player Props picks:
- Jonathan Huberdeau, LW, FLA: Over 1.5 points (+110)
- There hasn’t been stopping Huberdeau from getting on the scoresheet lately. In fact, he hasn’t recorded a point in just 10 of 58 games this season, so it’s always a safe bet that he’ll at least put up one. He’s coming off a four-assist game against the Philadephia Flyers on Thursday and has multi-point performances in five of his last 11 games.
- Sam Reinhart, C, FLA: Anytime goalscorer (+215)
- Reinhart has experienced a career renaissance in his first year with the Panthers after coming over from the lowly Buffalo Sabres. He’s only three goals off his career-high of 25 already with 20+ games still to play after a torrid two-game stretch in which he posted four goals — three of them coming against the Flyers on Thursday.
All odds courtesy of DraftKings. For the most recent odds, click here
