Picks: Kings will beat Bruins in Lucic's return

Welcome to NHL Picks where CBSSports.com hockey writers Chris Peters and Adam Gretz make their predictions for all the day’s games.

Los Angeles Kings at Boston Bruins, 7 p.m. ET

The two points on the line between the Kings and Bruins Tuesday are certainly important, more so for Boston than Los Angeles, but the big storyline coming into the game is the return of a former fan favorite to the TD Garden ice.

Milan Lucic will play in Boston for the first time since the Bruins traded him to the Kings in June. Lucic quickly rose to prominence in Boston and only saw his popularity grow over eight seasons. He was a key player on the 2011 Stanley Cup team and also had his one and only 30-goal season that year. Now he’ll be in enemy colors for the first time.

The bruising forward has played well since being traded over the summer. He has 12 goals and 30 points over 50 games so far for the Kings. Lucic is in a bit of a cold spell currently, with just one assist over his last five games, but sounds pretty fired up to come back to Boston.

In a piece for the Players’ Tribune, Lucic expressed his thanks to the people of Boston and also noted that he might even have to drop the gloves in the Garden for old time’s sake Tuesday night. Expect “Looch” to be greeted warmly whenever the Bruins play the requisite video tribute honoring his service, but after that he probably won’t get a free pass from the home crowd if the game gets tense.

Meanwhile, his former teammates have been on a pretty solid run lately with seven wins over their last 10 games. The Bruins actually have a shot at climbing into second place in the Atlantic Division. With 62 points, the Bruins are even with current second-place occupants, the Tampa Bay Lightning, and the Detroit Red Wings, who are currently in the top wild card spot.

Brad Marchand in particular has been on fire lately for Boston. He has scored at least one goal in eight of his last nine games for a total of nine. The 27-year-old forward has 24 goals so far this season overall as he appears sure to top his previous career high of 28.

While Marchand has been going well, the Bruins offense as a whole has been just getting by of late. They still have the third-highest scoring offense in terms of goals per game at 2.90, but haven’t often exceeded three goals in a game lately. They also haven’t been particularly strong on home ice much of this season.

The Bruins are 12-13-3 at TD Garden this year and have lost three of their last five home games. Meanwhile, Los Angeles has been among the strongest road teams. They’re 16-7-2 on the road, which is the fourth best road record in the league.

Tuesday night’s contest is the first of a seven-game Eastern road swing for the Kings. They’ll play five games against strong Eastern Conference foes before closing it out with a pair of games against Central Division clubs. This is really going to test the Pacific Division’s best team, but they look up to the challenge.

Though the Kings have been a bit more up and down over the last few weeks, one of the constants has been Anze Kopitar who has been on a roll since early December. Over his last 28 games, he has 33 points and is currently on a four game points streak, over which he has collected six assists.

Look for the Kings to continue their winning ways away from home by getting this road trip started off on the right foot and giving Lucic something to feel good about in his “homecoming.” Pick: Kings 3, Bruins 2

Milan Lucic will be back in Boston for the first time since the Bruins traded him. (USATSI)

The rest of Tuesday night’s picks

Florida Panthers 4, Buffalo Sabres 2

Philadelphia Flyers 3, Anaheim Ducks 2

New York Islanders 4, Columbus Blue Jackets 3

Tampa Bay Lightning 3, Montreal Canadiens 1

St. Louis Blues 4, Winnipeg Jets 2

Washington Capitals 3, Nashville Predators 0

Dallas Stars 5, Minnesota Wild 4

New Jersey Devils 3, Edmonton Oilers 1

Chicago Blackhawks 4, San Jose Sharks 2

Colorado Avalanche 5, Vancouver Canucks 2

Calgary Flames 3, Toronto Maple Leafs 2

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