This is a 5* BIG-CHALK CHOKE-OUT on the LA Kings.

For a number of different reasons, I feel that the defending champion LA Kings are worth the price of admission in this spot. LA was one of the best road teams last season, but so far that hasn't been the case in 2014/15 as the Kings have lost three straight away from friendly confines. The Hurricanes have just been downright horrible, they hadn't even won a single game this year until they finally broke through with a 3-0 win over Arizona last night; suffice it to say, I think this sets up as as classic "letdown" spot for the offensively challenged Hurricanes, a team which has not scored more than 3 goals in any contest yet this year. LA gets a big boost offensively as well with the expected return of Anze Kopitar to the lineup: "The bottom line is we've played three games in four nights and they're sitting here waiting...," coach Darryl Sutter said. "That's what's going to happen." Kopitar is a beast, while he's missed the first three games of this trip, he has two goals and one assist in eight games after leading the team in both categories last year (and note that Kopitar has three goals and four assists in six meetings with Carolina). LA I think comes in focused on the task at hand, this is the fourth game of an eight game trip; note that the Kings are 15-9 (+3.6 units) in their last 24 after allowing 4 goals or more in their previous contest, while Carolina is 10-22 (-11 units) in its last 32 non-conference games. In my opinion, all signs point to an epically one sided destruction, lay the price on the KINGS with confidence.

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