NHL Matchup - December 17, 2007

The Colorado Avalanche will be looking for their third straight win when they visit the struggling Los Angeles Kings at the Staples Center tonight.
 
It’s the Avalanche, however, who have struggled against the Kings head-to-head, going 4-5-0-1 SU over the past 10 tilts. While Colorado took out the Kings 5-2 in the first meeting of the season at the Staples Center on December 1, LA has still won six of the past nine meetings.

In their last games, the Avalanche (18-13-1 SU) swept a home-and-home series with the Nashville Predators, winning 2-1 in Nashville on Thursday and 3-1 Saturday in Denver. They’ll be shooting for a three-game winning streak for the first time since a season-high four straight victories Oct. 23-Nov. 1.

The Kings (12-19-2 SU) have dropped three straight and seven of their past nine games (2-6-1 SU), their latest a 2-1 loss on Saturday against the visiting Minnesota Wild.

Colorado captain Joe Sakic has missed the past eight games with a sore groin and will sit out tonight as well.

Peter Budaj will be in net for Colorado, while LA goalie Jason LaBarbera is back from a rib injury and could get the start tonight.

More than 60 per cent of wagers on tonight’s game are on a Colorado win.

Over/under bettors should note a predominant “Over” trend in recent Colorado-Los Angeles games: The total has gone Over in all five of the past five meetings, and Over in seven of the past eight in LA.

Betting Line: Colorado is a 120-moneyline favorite at BetUS. The over/under is 6.