Winnipeg Jets vs Los Angeles Kings: the Jets to win a low-scoring encounter

The Canadian province of Manitoba will host another NHL regular season game on April 3, 02:00 (UTC+3), with local Winnipeg taking on Los Angeles at the Canada Life Center.

Winnipeg is a team that has steadily progressed each year from league outsider to trophy contender. This season, though, the Jets' situation has once again taken a turn for the worse, as they are now in the midst of a new slump in the league. The Canadian club had a particularly weak first half of the regular season, falling far short of the playoff picture. Now Dave Lowry's team has to catch up, and they're doing a good job. In their last 13 matches, the White and Blues have managed nine wins against seven losses, which isn't too bad compared to what they had before. This surge has allowed Winnipeg to climb to tenth place in the Western Conference standings, and they won't be too far from the top eight.

Los Angeles is a team that has made significant progress this season. In recent years, the Californian club has been among the underdogs in the league, but now they are very likely to make the playoffs. Since the start of the regular season, the Kings have been pretty good. They haven't exactly been producing great numbers, but they've been consistently scoring enough points to last. Nevertheless, there has been a slight decline, as the last seven matches saw them get three wins and four losses. So Black and Whites turned out to be fourth in the Western Conference standings, despite having played more matches than their rivals.

Winnipeg is much worse in the current regular season than Los Angeles: the Jets currently go tenth in the West, while the Kings are fourth. Nevertheless, Dave Lowry's team has been better than their opponent, having won 9 of their last 13 games and the California club had three wins in the previous seven matches. The head-to-head stats also speak in favor of the Canadians, as they won their last three matches in a row. As a result, it seems reasonable to bet on Winnipeg's win for about 1.80.

Key stats 

• Winnipeg has beaten Los Angeles in the last three face-offs in a row;
• Los Angeles is the second-best team away in the West;
• Kyle Connor is the only player from the two teams in the league's top 30 scorers.

Don't expect any solid goal-scoring activity from this upcoming encounter. Right now the two teams are still fighting for a playoff spot, it's far more important for them to pick up the much-needed two points than to show any sort of flashy, offensive hockey. Moreover, they could theoretically be considered direct contenders for the top-8 in the West, since there are only eight points between them, and both faceoffs have been low-scoring this season. With that in mind, Total Under (5.5) pucks at odds of nearly 2.20 seems like a good bet.

Pierre-Luc Dubois moved to Winnipeg last season, but he did not adjust to the new team immediately, which led to some problems with his performance. Now he is on the mend, becoming one of the Jets' top scorers. In 68 matches played in the current regular season, the 23-year-old Canadian has already scored 51 points (25 goals + 26 assists) and is only ten away from breaking his personal best. Obviously, he is in good shape, so it is worth betting on his Total Over (0.5) at odds of about 1.80.

Our prediction: Winnipeg will win the match for 1.80 at 22bet.

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