by Chuck Sommers
Thursday, Mar 02, 2023
Time: 10:30 p.m. ET
Venue: Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, CA
Where to watch: BSW, TSN2, RDS
Opening Odds at USA Sportsbooks
DraftKings: Kings -240, Canadiens +200
FanDuel: Kings -240, Canadiens +200
BetMGM: Kings -240, Canadiens +200
Caesars: Kings -240, Canadiens +200
Season record
Canadiens: 26-30-4
Kings: 34-20-8
The All-Star break is over, the second half of the NHL season can officially begin, and we're bound for what should be a very exciting second half of the hockey season. Basketball and hockey are about to rule the roost in the sports betting world once the Super Bowl is done with, and we should all be very excited for what's to come. When the trade deadline hits and players switch teams, you know things are about to get hectic over these final 30 games or so. One way you can stay tuned with the action is following what our champion handicappers are doing in the world of the NHL. Look at ASA, Inc., reeling in a $6,750 profit off a 17-9-0 run. Al McMordie is also doing well on the ice with a 13-5-0 run and a net profit of $6,050. Scott Rickenbach has also been hanging strong with a lot of betting action, in what's been an unusual year, with a 24-18-0 run and reeling in $5,950. You know this action is going to be great now that games are back and a busy second half if on the horizon. All you need to do is head to our BEST BETS page at bigal.com to find out all of what we're trying to tell you. Make sure you're locked in at bigal.com and go to our Best Bets page to find out what our champion handicappers have to say in the world of the NHL!
Canadiens - Kings preview, prediction and analysis
The Montreal Canadiens will be playing the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday, March 2 in Los Angeles, California.
The Montreal Canadiens won against the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday, February 28 at SAP Center in San Jose, California with a score of 3-1. The Montreal Canadiens currently rank 8th in the Atlantic Division.
Jake Allen made 38 saves for the Montreal Canadiens.
"I thought we played responsible," Allen said. "We weren't risky in the third period. We had a couple good looks and had two goals. We could have gotten frustrated after the first two [periods]. We had some good chances to score. Their goalie played really well."
Kaiden Guhle and Jesse Ylonen scored 1:52 apart, and Christian Dvorak had a goal and an assist for the Canadiens (26-30-4), who started a four-game road trip.
"Jake was solid," Montreal coach Martin St. Louis said. "[A] big reason why we won the game. I didn't mind our first two periods, I just felt we were leaving a lot on the table because we just weren't quite executing. We talked between the second and third that, you know, we need the third to be our best period of tonight, and it was."
Jacob MacDonald gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead at 1:43 of the first period. Guhle tied it 1-1 at 8:07 of the third period on a shot from beyond the face-off circles. It was his first game since a lower-body injury sustained Dec. 29.
"Sometimes those ones just kind of squeak in, and to kind of get the boys started," Guhle said. "Happy to contribute to the team."
Ylonen put Montreal ahead 2-1 at 9:59 on a 2-on-0 with Rem Pitlick.
"I know that Pitlick is a really good player, and he can see those plays," Ylonen said. "So, I actually was expecting the puck to come, and it was a great play by him. It was easy to score from there."
Dvorak scored an empty-net goal with five seconds left for the 3-1 final.
The Montreal Canadiens have won six of their last 10 games.
The Los Angeles Kings won against the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday, February 28 at Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg with a score of 6-5 resulting from a shootout. The Los Angeles Kings currently rank 2nd in the Pacific Division.
Anze Kopitar scored four goals, including a hat trick in the second period, for the Los Angeles Kings.
"He had the hot hand. Anything he shot had a chance." Los Angeles coach Todd McLellan said. "Not only did he get the four [goals], but he probably could have had six, so we're really happy for him. Great leadership, stepping up and pulling us through at the back end of a trip when it doesn't look real good. A lot of other guys followed him."
Pheonix Copley made 26 saves for Los Angeles (34-20-8), which has points in eight of 10 (6-2-2).
Josh Morrissey scored twice for Winnipeg before Kopitar cut it to 2-1 on the power play 26 seconds into the second period. His one-timer from the bottom of the right circle came six seconds after Winnipeg defenseman Neal Pionk took a holding penalty.
"[Kopitar's] play overall, his thinking [in] all three zones is great and that's why he's been so successful for so long," Adrian Kempe said. "He's usually more of a passer but tonight he was red-hot, so we try to give him the puck as much as possible. He played great and is a great leader, just taking charge out there. It's fun to see."
Kyle Connor gave the Jets a 3-1 lead with a sharp-angled wrist shot at 6:08.
"We made mistakes," McLellan said. "Just not sharp when it comes to execution. They took advantage of it… I'm still disappointed, though, in some of our players, believe it or not. We can have that type of game, but we don't have enough guys going right now. That's got to change in the next 20 [games]."
Kopitar's second and third goals, both redirected point shots, came in a span of 1:29 in the second. Kopitar tipped Alexander Edler's shot at 9:14 to cut it to 3-2. He got his stick on Drew Doughty's point shot at 10:43 to tie it 3-3.
"It was a big win," Kopitar said. "Obviously happy to contribute [and] show the character that being down multiple times, coming back and ultimately win in the shootout. It's two very big points for us."
Kevin Stenlund scored twice in the second period, putting the Jets in front 4-3 at 12:00, and extending it to 5-3 with a short-handed goal at 18:26.
Kopitar's fourth goal of the game cut the Jets' lead to 5-4 at 1:26 of the third period. Gabriel Vilardi tied it 5-5 for the Kings with 4:06 left in the third period, and Adrian Kempe scored the deciding goal in the shootout.
"The one thing we believe is that we can score, which is a nice change from years past," McLellan said. "Keeping the puck out of the net is still a challenge for us for different reasons and we're going to continue to work on that.”
The Los Angeles Kings have won six of their last 10 games.
Prediction
It's a new era in Los Angeles. They never said it was a good one. Canadiens 4, Kings 3
The Montreal Canadiens won against the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday, February 28 at SAP Center in San Jose, California with a score of 3-1. The Montreal Canadiens currently rank 8th in the Atlantic Division.
Jake Allen made 38 saves for the Montreal Canadiens.
"I thought we played responsible," Allen said. "We weren't risky in the third period. We had a couple good looks and had two goals. We could have gotten frustrated after the first two [periods]. We had some good chances to score. Their goalie played really well."
Kaiden Guhle and Jesse Ylonen scored 1:52 apart, and Christian Dvorak had a goal and an assist for the Canadiens (26-30-4), who started a four-game road trip.
"Jake was solid," Montreal coach Martin St. Louis said. "[A] big reason why we won the game. I didn't mind our first two periods, I just felt we were leaving a lot on the table because we just weren't quite executing. We talked between the second and third that, you know, we need the third to be our best period of tonight, and it was."
Jacob MacDonald gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead at 1:43 of the first period. Guhle tied it 1-1 at 8:07 of the third period on a shot from beyond the face-off circles. It was his first game since a lower-body injury sustained Dec. 29.
"Sometimes those ones just kind of squeak in, and to kind of get the boys started," Guhle said. "Happy to contribute to the team."
Ylonen put Montreal ahead 2-1 at 9:59 on a 2-on-0 with Rem Pitlick.
"I know that Pitlick is a really good player, and he can see those plays," Ylonen said. "So, I actually was expecting the puck to come, and it was a great play by him. It was easy to score from there."
Dvorak scored an empty-net goal with five seconds left for the 3-1 final.
The Montreal Canadiens have won six of their last 10 games.
The Los Angeles Kings won against the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday, February 28 at Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg with a score of 6-5 resulting from a shootout. The Los Angeles Kings currently rank 2nd in the Pacific Division.
Anze Kopitar scored four goals, including a hat trick in the second period, for the Los Angeles Kings.
"He had the hot hand. Anything he shot had a chance." Los Angeles coach Todd McLellan said. "Not only did he get the four [goals], but he probably could have had six, so we're really happy for him. Great leadership, stepping up and pulling us through at the back end of a trip when it doesn't look real good. A lot of other guys followed him."
Pheonix Copley made 26 saves for Los Angeles (34-20-8), which has points in eight of 10 (6-2-2).
Josh Morrissey scored twice for Winnipeg before Kopitar cut it to 2-1 on the power play 26 seconds into the second period. His one-timer from the bottom of the right circle came six seconds after Winnipeg defenseman Neal Pionk took a holding penalty.
"[Kopitar's] play overall, his thinking [in] all three zones is great and that's why he's been so successful for so long," Adrian Kempe said. "He's usually more of a passer but tonight he was red-hot, so we try to give him the puck as much as possible. He played great and is a great leader, just taking charge out there. It's fun to see."
Kyle Connor gave the Jets a 3-1 lead with a sharp-angled wrist shot at 6:08.
"We made mistakes," McLellan said. "Just not sharp when it comes to execution. They took advantage of it… I'm still disappointed, though, in some of our players, believe it or not. We can have that type of game, but we don't have enough guys going right now. That's got to change in the next 20 [games]."
Kopitar's second and third goals, both redirected point shots, came in a span of 1:29 in the second. Kopitar tipped Alexander Edler's shot at 9:14 to cut it to 3-2. He got his stick on Drew Doughty's point shot at 10:43 to tie it 3-3.
"It was a big win," Kopitar said. "Obviously happy to contribute [and] show the character that being down multiple times, coming back and ultimately win in the shootout. It's two very big points for us."
Kevin Stenlund scored twice in the second period, putting the Jets in front 4-3 at 12:00, and extending it to 5-3 with a short-handed goal at 18:26.
Kopitar's fourth goal of the game cut the Jets' lead to 5-4 at 1:26 of the third period. Gabriel Vilardi tied it 5-5 for the Kings with 4:06 left in the third period, and Adrian Kempe scored the deciding goal in the shootout.
"The one thing we believe is that we can score, which is a nice change from years past," McLellan said. "Keeping the puck out of the net is still a challenge for us for different reasons and we're going to continue to work on that.”
The Los Angeles Kings have won six of their last 10 games.
Prediction
It's a new era in Los Angeles. They never said it was a good one. Canadiens 4, Kings 3
Projected lines
Canadiens:
Mike Hoffman -- Nick Suzuki -- Denis Gurianov
Rafael Harvey-Pinard -- Jonathan Drouin -- Josh Anderson
Rem Pitlick -- Christian Dvorak -- Jesse Ylonen
Michael Pezzetta -- Chris Tierney -- Alex Belzile
Mike Matheson -- Justin Barron
Corey Schueneman -- David Savard
Kaiden Guhle -- Johnathan Kovacevic
Jake Allen
Mike Hoffman -- Nick Suzuki -- Denis Gurianov
Rafael Harvey-Pinard -- Jonathan Drouin -- Josh Anderson
Rem Pitlick -- Christian Dvorak -- Jesse Ylonen
Michael Pezzetta -- Chris Tierney -- Alex Belzile
Mike Matheson -- Justin Barron
Corey Schueneman -- David Savard
Kaiden Guhle -- Johnathan Kovacevic
Jake Allen
Kings:
Quinton Byfield -- Anze Kopitar -- Adrian Kempe
Kevin Fiala -- Phillip Danault -- Viktor Arvidsson
Alex Iafallo -- Blake Lizotte -- Gabriel Vilardi
Carl Grundstrom -- Rasmus Kupari -- Arthur Kaliyev
Mikey Anderson -- Drew Doughty
Sean Durzi -- Matt Roy
Alexander Edler -- Sean Walker
Pheonix Copley
Quinton Byfield -- Anze Kopitar -- Adrian Kempe
Kevin Fiala -- Phillip Danault -- Viktor Arvidsson
Alex Iafallo -- Blake Lizotte -- Gabriel Vilardi
Carl Grundstrom -- Rasmus Kupari -- Arthur Kaliyev
Mikey Anderson -- Drew Doughty
Sean Durzi -- Matt Roy
Alexander Edler -- Sean Walker
Pheonix Copley
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Chuck Sommers
About the Author:
Chuck Sommers has camped outside of sportsbooks since he can remember, learning the tricks and nuances of the trade. He still has nightmares of betting $5,000 on the Raiders in the Tuck Rule game but has since turned that to 25 years of veteran handicapping greatness. You can find him mostly in the shadows at the Red Rock or Aliante casinos wondering if the over is cashing on any given Sunday.
