Kings One Win Away From Second-Straight Conference Finals Berth

The Los Angeles Kings have been here before. That experience should provide an advantage. The Kings will face a must-win online sports betting situation when they take on the San Jose Sharks in game seven of their Western Conference second round series on Tuesday, with the chance to reach their second-straight conference finals on the line. The defending Stanley Cup champions have done an excellent job of managing pressure situations and coming out on top over the past two years, and will try and do the same against San Jose in game seven.

San Jose Sharks @ Los Angeles Kings
Tuesday May 28, 2013 – 9:00 PM ET
Staples Center, Los Angeles, California
NHL Sports Betting Line: Los Angeles – 150

The Sharks are in a much different situation than they have been in past years, when expectations were much higher and the team wasn’t as experienced. This year’s group is breaking all of those trends this season, and the emergence of two core players has really made the difference so far.

NHL Betting Preview: San Jose Sharks

There had been rumors about either Logan Couture or Joe Pavelski moving out of town in each of the past couple of seasons, but San Jose held on to both of them and are now being rewarded for a wise decision. Couture has led the Sharks in goals and points in the playoffs with five and 11 respectively, while Pavelski is tied for the team-lead in points with 11 and just one goal back of Couture with four. The emergence of both players has opened up space for veterans Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau, who have combined for 18 points. San Jose has also been a much better defensive team, and the play of Antti Niemi has been a big part of that in these playoffs.

NHL Betting Preview: Los Angeles Kings

Niemi will be tasked with matching what Jonathan Quick does at the other end of the ice in this game seven, but it will be on the Kings’ attack to make that a difficult task. Mike Richards and Jeff Carter have combined for 18 points to lead Los Angeles, but no other player has more than six points and that is just not good enough. The lack of scoring punch up front has put even more pressure on Quick, who to his credit has handled it well. The Kings must find a way to put more pucks on the net and create traffic in front of Niemi, and goals will be at a premium as things tighten up even more for this must-win online sports betting contest.

NHL Betting Preview: Outlook & Pick

As impressive as the Sharks have looked in forcing a seventh game, the Kings have been here before and have shown they can handle this type of high-pressure environment. Los Angeles may not be scoring as many goals as they would like as a team, but they have done just enough to win these tight games and as long as hey continue to make things difficult on opponents at their own end they will continue to win these types of games.

NHL Betting Pick: Los Angeles Kings