Fans of NHL betting have seen the Vancouver Canucks, a good northbet, and Los Angeles Kings clash swords in two games of their best-of-seven playoff series.

It appears regardless of who comes out victorious in the war, the battles will take their toll on both teams. With two games in the books, and two games having gone to overtime, the series is tied 1-1 after its start at GM Place in Vancouver. For now, the action moves to Los Angeles for game 3 on Monday and game 4 on Wednesday.

Thus far in the grueling series, both teams have been relying heavily on their top players - this has already become a three-line series, as it appears neither coach is interested in playing his fourth trio. Also interesting is the fact that the Canucks have essentially played two games with only five defencemen. Andrew Alberts, defence for the Canucks, was ejected in Game 1 of the series and benched following a poor showing in Game 2. While earlier in the year, Vancouver's defense was lauded by many, however, the team now finds itself in a precarious position. With Alberts being ineffective, this leaves Vancouver with the options of Aaron Rome - who's been out with an undisclosed injury, or journeyman Nolan Baumgartner.

For the Los Angeles Kings, Drew Doughty played close to 33 minutes in Game 2, while veteran forward Ryan Smyth has indicated his preparedness for a long series. The Kings played five overtime games to close the regular season, and have now gone past regulation seven consecutive times. Fans of hockey betting are left wondering whether all this ice-time will begin to take its toll.

Monday's game marks the return of NHL playoff action to Los Angeles after eight years.