NHL Picks: Kings push winning streak to five vs. Oilers, Wild falter – CBSSports.com
Welcome to the NHL Daily Picks, where CBSSports.com hockey writers Chris Peters and Adam Gretz share their predictions for every game, every day.
Los Angeles Kings at Edmonton Oilers, 9:30 p.m. ET
After losing their first three games of the season and looking like they couldn’t stop anybody, the Kings have rattled off four consecutive wins to show they still know what they’re doing.
Better yet, they’ve allowed just three goals in their last four games. The Kings still aren’t dominating offensively by any means, but they’re still at least closer to who we thought they were.
The Oilers, meanwhile, have been a bit inconsistent. They lost their first four games before winning their next three. Then they ran into a red-hot Capitals team and pretty much got run out of their own building. These certainly aren’t last year’s Oilers, but they’re still gradually coming along.
Neither of these teams played during Saturday’s robust slate of NHL games, so they should be coming in moderately fresh. The Oilers haven’t had a lot of time at home and have gone 1-2-0 so far in the final season at Rexall Place. The Kings have played just one road game through seven games this year — a 4-1 win over the Sharks.
This should be a pretty tough matchup for the Oilers, with their young team going against a more seasoned and physical Kings squad. The great equalizer here could be Edmonton’s overall team speed, though.
Connor McDavid and Nail Yakupov have been terrorizing opposing teams with 15 points combined. Taylor Hall and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, the other two first-overall picks on the roster, have gotten off to solid starts as well.
That speed should help, but the Kings have really started controlling their games over this winning streak. They look like their old selves by taking 57.2 percent of the shot attempts at five-on-five, and Jonathan Quick has overcome a shaky start to post a .975 save percentage over his last three games, including a 40-save shutout against the Hurricanes on Friday.
The Oilers are starting to get more comfortable in their own skin, but the Kings are unlikely to slow down in Edmonton as they go for a fifth straight win. Pick: Kings 4, Oilers 1
Jonathan Quick looks like he’s found his groove during Kings’ winning streak. (USATSI)
The rest of Sunday’s picks
Winnipeg Jets 3, Minnesota Wild 1
New York Rangers 3, Calgary Flames 2
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