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The San Jose Sharks travel south to play against their neighbors the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday January 18th, the puck is set to hit the ice at 10:30 pm ET.
The Sharks are relishing their 5-2 win on Monday against the Winnipeg Jets, they were due a win after losing 5 out of the last 7 games prior to Mondayís game, this win pushes them up the ranks in the Western Conference where they are now the No. 4 seed with a record of 26-16-2.
The Los Angeles Kings on the other hand lost the momentum they were just starting to mount after losing to the Tampa Bay Lighting at home on Monday with a final score of 2-1. Prior to this match they had defeated the Winnipeg Jets 3-2 in overtime on Saturday and seemed poised to continue their winning streak. However, they were unable to hold on to their momentum and are now the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference with a record of 22-18-4.
Wednesdayís game will the 7th and last home game for the Kings before they embark on a 5-game road stretch. So far, they have won 3 and lost 3 games at home this month, they are hoping to for one more win to put a positive end to this home game stretch.
The home field advantage may come in handy in this game, as the Kings are 14-7-1 when playing at home, while the San Jose Sharks trail a little when on the road, they are currently 11-10-1. Unlike the Kings the Sharksí schedule this month as been a mixture of home and travel, and this can wear a team down, but that is the nature of the beast.
One thing is clear, the Sharks have been scoring a lot more than then Kings this season, so far this season the Sharks have scored a total of 117 goals and have only allowed 102 goals against, given them a goal differential of +15, in contrast the Kings have scored 111 goals this season but have given up almost an equal number as they have 110 goals against, making their goal differential +1.
The Sharks...
...are averaging 2.67 goals per game and are scoring on 16% of their power play opportunities, Brent Burns leads the team in goals with 18 and 27 assists and has scored 4 game winning goals, Joe Pavelski has 15 goals and 25 assists and he has also scored 4 game winning goals, Logan Couture has 14 goals on 119 shots for a shot percentage of 11.8 and Patrick Marleau has 12 goals and 8 assists on 103 shots.
The Kings...
...are averaging 2.5 goals per game and offensively they only have 2 players that are worth their salt, they are Jeff Carter who has 23 goals and 17 assists on 134 shots for a very impressive shot percentage of 17.2 and Tanner Pearson who has 13 goals and 10 assists on 92 shots for a shot percentage of 14.1. Now these two guys the top scorers, that doesnít mean every other player is worthless, Anze Kopitar leads the team in assists with 20 followed by Drew Doughty who has 16.
Pick
Bottom line, the Sharks have a much better offensive team and they should have no problem outscoring the Kings.
Make sure to check out the early NHL odds at Ace Sportsbook.com.
