NHL Odds: Kings Should Have It Easy vs Coyotes

Hockey coaches will go out of their way to teach their players a number of different things, but you can bet that the one thing they preach the most is discipline. If you spend long periods of a game playing shorthanded, you more often than not come out on the losing end. Discipline was something that was missing from the LA Kings season opener, and they will be looking to get it back when they host the Arizona Coyotes on Friday night.

Coyotes @ Kings: NHL Odds and Game Preview

Date: Friday, October 9th, 2015 Time: 10:30PM Venue: STAPLES Center Opening NHL Odds: Los Angeles -140

Top of the circle pic.twitter.com/VSWQwUD9PQ

— LA Kings (@LAKings) October 9, 2015

It was a rough start to the season for the Kings, as they found themselves on the wrong end of a 5-1 result against the San Jose Sharks. It was not a great performance from LA, and they will be appalled at their special teams play. They allowed the Sharks to score on 2 of 8 power play attempts, whilst failing to convert on 6 odd-man advantages. Both of those are going to have to improve dramatically if the Kings hope to find their way back to the playoffs this year. It’s one thing to be fired up about a rivalry game in the season opener, but quite another to let emotions contribute to your downfall. Coach Darryl Sutter is not the type of guy who sits idly by while his team implodes, so you can be sure that there was a reading of the riot act in the dressing room after this one was over. I expect the Kings to bounce back in a pretty big way. The Arizona Coyotes are more than likely going to be headed for a long, miserable season, and having to go on the road to face a good team looking to make amends is not how they would have wanted to start out. The Coyotes are a team that are preaching patience as they go through a long, slow rebuild, but you have to wonder just how patient fans will be if they show no signs of improvement over the awfulness that was last season. The Coyotes are among my favorites to have the worst record in the NHL this year, and a quick glance at their opening schedule reveals that things could get pretty ugly early on.

Key Betting Trends

Arizona is 1-6 SU in its last 7 games The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Arizona’s last 7 games Arizona is 2-11 SU in its last 13 games on the road The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Arizona’s last 5 games on the road Arizona is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games when playing Los Angeles Los Angeles is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games Los Angeles is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games at home Los Angeles is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing Arizona Los Angeles is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games when playing at home against Arizona

Consider This Before Placing Your Bets

The Kings have won 3 straight against the Coyotes, and only gave up 2 goals during that run. This should be a comfortable win for LA, with a 3 or 4-goal margin of victory not out of the question.