The San Jose Sharks and Los Angeles Kings take to the ice tonight in Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals. The game is scheduled for a 10:30 p.m. start time and it will be televised nationally on the NBC Sports Network. Currently the odds for the game have the Kings favored to win tonight.
In this series we have a 2-2 tie between the Sharks and the Kings. It's a battle of West Coast teams so quite a few fans of the NHL might not be paying much attention just because of time difference. Yet, these games have been physical, fun to watch and now we have a battle of the best of the final three games.
Jonathan Quick has a very good goals against average so far this post season, sporting a 1.64 with a saves percentage of better than 94 percent. It's not hard to believe that he helped them win the Stanley Cup last season and is on pace to get them there again in 2013. He allowed just 10 goals to the St. Louis Blue in the six games played during the first round.
But tonight's game is a big one. The winner will certainly have the upper hand moving into the final two games of the series. Jeff Carter leads the Kings in goals, shots and penalty minutes right now. Mike Richards has logged nine points to this point in the playoffs and the Kings would like to get Justin Williams, who has two goals in the postseason, going a bit. Dustin Brown has just two goals as well while leading scorer Anze Kopitar has just one goal.
San Jose is getting quality play from Joe Thornton and Logan Couture. And leading the team in shots on goal so far is Patrick Marleau with 36.
San Jose is two wins away from its third conference finals appearance in four years, but only if the Sharks manage to crack the Kings' formidable advantage at Staples Center. The Kings finished with a home record of 19-4-1 this season while San Jose was a less than great 8-14-2 on the road.
In this one tonight we like the Kings with the low price. They're going to get a great game from Quick in net and look for them to take advantage when on the power play. The Sharks are a tough group but in this one tonight we're looking for the Kings to win on home ice and take a 3-2 lead in the series.
Free Pick: Kings 3, Sharks 1
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