Premium NHL Pick: April 21

Today there are three games in the NHL and we have one premium pick.

Vancouver Canucks @ LA Kings:

Canucks will find themselves in a tough situation if they lose this one tonight. They weren't able to stop Kings powerplays in last two games and Kings have scored 7 powerplay goals in 2 matches. I don't expect to see the Canucks exit in this first round of playoffs. They will have to play at their best tonight and go back to GM Place with the series tied at 2-2.

All season long Canucks had struggled on road. They were 19-20-2 on road in regular season and their success depended on their extremely well performance at GM Place. (30-8-3 on home ice) . This continues in playoffs. They still look poor on road as they played a pretty bad game in LA. This wouldn't have been a problem if they could have won the first two games on home ice. They didn't and they don't have home ice advantage anymore. Unless they win tonight.

Kings on the other side have been pretty consistent when you compare their home/road record. At home they were 22-13-6 in regular season and on road they had a 24-14-3 record. They win and lose on home ice as much as they do on road. You never know when they are going to win or lose.

They played fantastic on powerplays in last three games scoring 7 goals on 12 powerplay chances. That success rate is above any team in the NHL. Can they keep this up? We don't know but they have certainly showed what they are capable of by taking the lead against one of the best teams in the Western Conference.

Last two matches at Staples Center between these clubs offered several goals by both sides. Early April Kings had demolished the Canucks 8-3 and on Monday Kings won 5-3. Tonight we will see the Canucks trying to tie this up and Kings will do everything they can to make it a 3-1 lead and let Canucks worry about the game at GM Place this weekend.

We should see another high scoring game tonight.

PREMIUM NHL PICK: OVER 5 GOALS [OT included]

1.71 @ Bodog.com

Outcome: