OT Included. Note the 4:00 PM EST start. The market keeps waiting for the Kings to wake up but that day has not come yet and may not come at all. We keep hearing about what a great puck possession team the Kings are and that’s true but so what. What good is it to have the puck when you’re passing it around on the outside and not creating chances? For the Kings to score, they have to create a lot, which is something they are not doing. We all remember the 2012 version of the Kings, when they were a dominating puck-possession team and came into the playoffs as an 8-seed. L.A then lost two games the entire playoffs in a dominating Cup run that also helped to give widespread credence to the “advanced stats” movement. This version of the Kings is nothing like that one. L.A. has two lousy players with more than 10 goals. They are a bottom offensive team that has trouble catching up if they fall behind by even one goal and has trouble holding leads too. L.A. has scored two goals or less seven times in its last nine games. That includes scoring twice in Colorado. The Kings goaltending is overvalued too because they don’t allow a lot of shots on net but if the Ducks can fire away 30 or so, there is a good chance of scoring three times or more. Hell, two goals are likely enough. In any event, L.A. is a huge risk when favored, especially against a quality opponent this time of year when every game means more.

Three wins by the Ducks in eight games have followed an All-Star break where they stumbled into it with a one-sided home loss. Anaheim’s recent form has their stock lower than it should be but there are things to note here. Ryan Getzlaf jawed back and forth with equally heated assistant coach Trent Yawney in a brief stoppage during a practice drill Saturday at Anaheim. That shows some feistiness and grit from the Captain, which is a good example to set to carry over into this game. The Ducks also added some new energy to the room with the pickup of Patrick Eaves from Dallas. This is a team that should not be slumping because of their abundance of talent. Every team will go through a funk during an 82-game schedule but when it comes at this time of year, it is more pronounced. That makes us instant buyers because the Ducks have three legit scoring lines while the Kings don’t even have three scorers. Huge overlay.  

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