It’s a must win game for the Vancouver Canucks tonight, Wednesday April 21, as the LA Kings have a 2-1 lead in the Western Conference Quarters, and are on home ice. LA won Game 3, 5-3 as -102 home favs. NHL oddsmakers at SBGGLOBAL.com have the Canucks as -120 moneyline road favorites over the Kings (+160) with the over/under set at 5 goals . Be sure to get your 2010 NHL Playoffs: 2010 NHL Playoffs: Vancouver Canucks vs LA Kings Game 4 Odds & Prediction in now at SBGGLOBAL.com
The Canucks are dropping faster than Paris Hilton’s panties at a party. They were humiliated by the Kings in Game 3 after losing 5-3. Vancouver's penalty killing was a colossal failure again, sinking the Canucks within two wins of termination. The Kings' power play, already the best in the NHL playoffs through two games, is now 7-for-12. That's a 41.7% kill rate for the Canucks. Merely bad penalty killing is 75%. Three power-play goals against in 12 chances would be lousy. Seven is unfathomable. The Canuck power play was 0-for-4, making it 2-for-11 in the series. To go along with bad penalty kill and lack of scoring on powerplays, they are getting lousy goaltending from Roberto Luongo. In his last four-and-a-half periods in LA, Luongo has surrendered 12 goals on 46 shots. That's a save percentage of .739. Luongo was yanked 13 minutes into the second period after giving up four goals on 16 shots."I'm fine," he said. "It is part of the process, there have been other bad games in the playoffs and goalies have rebounded. It's all about tomorrow night right now. We win tomorrow and we take back home-ice advantage. That is what my focus is on, that is the opportunity we have in front of us and we have to take advantage of it."
The Kings played great hockey and can get a win tonight if the Canucks continue on their awful play. The Kings won 5-3 thanks to goals from Drew Doughty, Michal Handzus (2), Brad Richardson and Ryan Smyth. Jack Johnson and Drew Doughty are leading the attack on the power play. They've combined for nine points (1 goal, 8 assists) in three games. On the powerplay they were forced to exert themselves for all of 110 seconds to produce their three goals. The power plays lasted 31 seconds, 42 seconds and 37 seconds. The Kings were credited with 28 blocked shots on Monday. The Canucks had 13.
"I know from our side of it we're moving the puck very crisply," Murray said. "We got traffic, we got shots, we've got good chemistry going on right now and we're having good results because of that."Goalie Jonathan Quick couldn’t be playing any better, he’s 2-1 with a 2.33 GAA and is sixth among playoff goaltenders with a .918 save percentage. Center Henrik Sedin, the NHL scoring champion, and his identical twin Daniel have had their moments but have not been dominant. Daniel has two goals and three points and Henrik has three assists; the other winger, Alex Burrows, has been shut out. In splitting the first two games at Vancouver the Kings used Drew Doughty and Rob Scuderi as a shutdown defense pair against the Sedin line.
Recent Trends to Consider:
- Home team is 5-1 in the last 6 meetings.
- Under is 8-3-1 in the last 12 meetings.
- Kings are 4-1 in their last 5 games as an underdog.
- Kings are 4-1 in their last 5 when their opponent allows 5 goals or more in their previous game.
- Kings are 5-2 in their last 7 vs. a team with a winning record.
- Canucks are 5-0 in their last 5 after allowing 5 goals or more in their previous game.
- Canucks are 4-1 in their last 5 games as a favorite of -110 to -150.
Vancouver Canucks vs LA Kings
When: Wednesday April 21, 2010 7:00 PM ET
Line: SBGGLOBAL.com
Pick: Canucks -120
Point-Spreads.com 2010 NHL Playoffs: Vancouver Canucks vs LA Kings Game 4 Odds & Predictions
The Bottom Line: They have to win and they should come out stronger. Be sure to get your 2010 NHL Playoffs: Vancouver Canucks vs LA Kings Game 4 Odds & Predictions in now at SBGGLOBAL.com and receive up to 260% in Cash Bonuses and start winning today!
