NHL Preview: Los Angeles Kings at Colorado Avalanche

It's a battle of two hot streaks as Los Angeles travels to Colorado. The Kings, unbeaten in a mighty one, have actually won five of their last seven in Colorado. The Avs however are looking to extend their run of consecutive home wins to four.

It is not exactly the glamour tie of the Western Conference. It is not even game of the night — arguably that accolade goes to Calgary at Montreal. Colorado and LA sit 11^th and 12^th in the West respectively, and have both struggled offensively this season.

Both are bang on .500, Colorado with 27 points from 27 games, the Kings at 26 from 26, so arguably there is not much to choose. As much as it pains me to say it, I would go for the Avs on this one tonight. Colorado is perfect over LA this season with two wins back in October and November.

The Kings are more than capable of winning the game especially if they can continue their run of solid defensive performances. Restricting the number of shots on goal and a good defensive system have improved the play dramatically, which is strange as it was on the back end where LA was expected to struggle this season with their inexperienced rookies and youth leading the way.

It is offensively, where the likes of Anze Kopitar and Patrick O'Sullivan have not quite put the numbers up that they were expecting to, where the Kings have had problems. I do not see much of that changing tonight. Colorado always seems to play a tight game against LA and that has been the Kings' downfall this year with their inability to break teams down at times.

Here is my prediction:

If Peter Budaj starts for Colorado, then the game is done. Even more so if Jason LaBarbera gets the nod for LA. Budaj is 5-1-1 against the Kings, JLB is 0-4-0 against the Avs. Hockey is all about streaks, getting momentum and carrying it forward. One of these teams will continue that tonight.

Scorecast – LA 1 Colorado 4