Kings vs Hurricanes Prediction & Picks (Jan. 31): Carolina Beats Up LA, Continues Home Success

Tuesday, Jan. 31’s NHL schedule includes some inter-conference action as the Los Angeles Kings are set to visit the Carolina Hurricanes. This is the second and final Kings vs Hurricanes matchup of the season after Carolina won 4-2 back on Dec. 3. Only time will tell if Los Angeles can reverse its fortunes tonight.

Defended home ice ? pic.twitter.com/ylNAiQKlqV

— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) January 30, 2023

The Kings enter tonight’s contest after a 5-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning ended their three-game winning streak. Los Angeles is now 3-2-0 through the first five outings of its six-game road trip, making it interesting to see if the Kings can finish with a winning record after the finale.

Meanwhile, the Hurricanes are surging, having won five straight games. They tallied a 4-1 victory over the NHL-leading Boston Bruins over the weekend and now look to continue their winning ways on home ice.

Tuesday’s Kings vs Hurricanes matchup offers several betting opportunities in what will surely be a thrilling contest. Here’s a look at BetOnline Sportsbook’s latest odds for the game, as well as a prediction and the best bet to make, courtesy of Betting News.

Los Angeles Kings vs Carolina Hurricanes Matchup Information and Betting Odds

Matchup Information

• Matchup: Los Angeles Kings (28-18-6, 14-9-4 Away) vs. Carolina Hurricanes (32-9-8, 16-5-2 Home)
• Venue & Location: PNC Arena (Raleigh, North Carolina)
• Date: Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2023
• Game Time: 7 p.m. Eastern Time
• Kings vs Hurricanes TV Info: NHL Network

Kings vs Hurricanes Odds

Game odds are via BetOnline as of Tuesday, Jan. 31 at 8:08 a.m. ET. Odds from other top online sportsbooks may also be mentioned in this article.

Spread

• Los Angeles Kings +1.5 (-144)
• Carolina Hurricanes -1.5 (+118)

Over/Under

• Over 6 Goals (-110)
• Under 6 Goals (-110)

Moneyline

• Los Angeles Kings +172
• Carolina Hurricanes -210

Kings vs Hurricanes Betting Trends

• Los Angeles is 0-6 straight up in its last six games against Carolina.
• Carolina is 6-1 straight up in its last seven home games against Los Angeles.
• The total has hit the over in five of Los Angeles’ last seven road games.
• The total has hit the over in 10 of Carolina’s last 13 games.
• The total has hit the under in five of the last 10 Los Angeles-Carolina matchups.

Kings vs Hurricanes Prediction and Picks

Kings vs Hurricanes Prediction: Hurricanes 5, Kings 2

Kings vs Hurricanes Best Bet: Hurricanes -1.5 (Best Value: +118 at BetOnline) & Over 6 Goals (Best Value: -110 at BetOnline)

The Hurricanes’ dominant victory over the Bruins solidified the former was one of the league’s top teams. The victory also improved Carolina to 7-0-1 over its last eight contests, having not lost in regulation since Jan. 10.

The Hurricanes have also outscored opponents 33-17 over that stretch, scoring at least four goals in four of the last five outings. While their power play has been lukewarm during that time (4-of-26, 15.4%), the penalty kill has done its job for the most part, killing 24-of-26 penalties (92.3%).

Fortunately for Carolina, the Kings’ power play is only clicking at 19.0% over the last seven games, which is below their season average of 23.7% (No. 10).

It’s also going to be hard for the Kings to win with how tough the Hurricanes have been at home. Carolina is 16-5-2 at PNC Arena thus far and is 4-0-1 in its last five home games.

Making matters worse for the Kings is that they have only won once in their last seven trips to PNC Arena, having not won in Raleigh since January 2017 — over six years ago. Los Angeles has lost four straight road contests to Carolina, being outscored 20-5 in those meetings.

Daily Faceoff projects that the Kings will roll with Jonathan Quick between the pipes. Unfortunately for Los Angeles, the veteran netminder has struggled against the Hurricanes for most of his career.

In his last seven starts against the Hurricanes, Quick is 2-5-0 with a 4.37 goals-against average (GAA) and .870 save percentage (SV%). Furthermore, he’s lost three straight outings against Carolina, giving up at least four goals in each of those contests.

Meanwhile, projected Hurricanes goalie Antti Raanta is 6-0-1 in seven all-time starts against the Kings, recording a 1.42 GAA, .957 SV% and three shutouts. Furthermore, Raanta has won back-to-back starts since returning from injury and has gone 12 straight appearances without a regulation loss.

At the end of the day, I see the Hurricanes winning this matchup due to their having better goaltending and the special teams advantage. There’s also the fact that the Kings have struggled at PNC Arena for quite some time and with the way that Carolina is playing in its own barn, I don’t see that changing soon.

Having said that, I’m backing Carolina to cover the -1.5 spread. The Hurricanes already beat the Kings by two goals earlier this season and have won each of their last four home games against Los Angeles by multiple goals.

I’m also siding with the total going over six goals in this Kings vs Hurricanes tilt. After all, the over is 5-2 in Los Angeles’ last seven road games and 10-3 in Carolina’s last 13 overall. Considering how the last game between these teams saw six goals getting scored, adding one more to that total shouldn’t be an issue.

Other Los Angeles vs Carolina Resources

• Kings vs Hurricanes Consensus Picks, Score Projections & Betting Stats