The LA Kings are back at Crypto.com Arena on Tuesday for a date with the Vegas Golden Knights in their first game after the Christmas break.
LA Kings (19-12-6)
Here’s how the Kings lined up in their last game in Arizona:
Tonight's @LAKings Line Rushes –
Fiala – Kopitar – Kempe
Iafallo – Danault – Moore
Arvidsson – Lizotte – Vilardi
Lemieux – Kupari – Anderson-DolanAnderson – Doughty
Durzi – Roy
Walker – SpenceQuick
Copley— Zach Dooley (@DooleyLAK) December 24, 2022
Brendan Lemieux returned to the lineup and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him stay against the rival Golden Knights. I would expect Alex Edler to draw back in and Pheonix Copley to get the nod in net. We’ll learn more after the team’s morning skate.
Vegas Golden Knights (24-11-1)
This was the Vegas lineup in their shootout win over St. Louis:
Knights' line rushes vs. Blues:
Amadio-Stephenson-Stone
Smith-Karlsson-Kessel
Rondbjerg-Leschyshyn-Dorofeyev
Carrier-Roy-KolesarHague-Pietrangelo
McNabb-Miromanov
Martinez-PachalThompson
— Ben Gotz (@BenSGotz) December 24, 2022
There continue to be noticeable absences of Jack Eichel and Shea Theodore. As always, we’ll see if there are any updates after their morning skate.
Here’s how the two teams match up at 5-on-5 per Natural Stat Trick
Team | CF% | xGF% | SCF% | HDCF% | SH% | SV% | PDO |
Vegas Golden Knights | 49.1 | 53.1 | 50.0 | 54.6 | 8.0 | 0.919 | 0.999 |
Los Angeles Kings | 51.6 | 53.0 | 52.2 | 52.7 | 8.1 | 0.907 | 0.987 |
Vegas hasn’t been quite as dominant in the past in terms of their possession metrics, but they do a very good job under Bruce Cassidy controlling the quality of scoring chances. They’re battling injuries again this season but have banked plenty of points to start the season to whether that storm.
Team | PP% | PK% |
Vegas Golden Knights | 26.5 | 75.3 |
Los Angeles Kings | 22.9 | 71.5 |
Vegas brings a top-ten power play into this one, though Jack Eichel could still be out for this one as he continues to deal with a lower-body injury. Neither team has had a particularly good penalty kill this season. It’s a little surprising from Vegas given how well their goaltending has been.
Let’s look at the odds, courtesy of Betstamp.
*Note: the odds below are for sports books offered in New York. Refer to available sports books specific to your state.
**Odds as of 9 am ET/6 am PT may have changed since this was published.
The LA Kings are home favorites on Tuesday night with BetMGM offering the best number at -110. It’s not often you’ll find Vegas at plus-money so if you do like the road underdogs, BetRivers has that at +104. The total on the game is either 6 or 6.5 depending on where you shop. If you like the Over, you can find a few 6’s out there, but the best value is actually 6.5 +104 at BetRivers. The best number on the Under is also at BetRivers at -122.
Despite the injuries that Vegas is dealing with, I do not feel comfortable backing the Kings as favorites in this one. If the +104 is still around on Vegas that’s not a bad way to go.
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