After a rough loss to the Edmonton Oilers, the LA Kings are back at it again as they take on another division rival in the Vegas Golden Knights.
In Vegas, we’ll be seeing a new face in Jack Eichel, who just recently made his season debut on Wednesday in a 2-0 loss to the Colorado Avalanche. They sit second in the Pacific Division, however, they’ve lost their past two games, being shut out back-to-back.
As for the Kings, this will be just their second game since the All-Star Break. They’re 4-4-2 in their last 10 games played and have since fallen out of a top-three spot in the Pacific Division.
As I mentioned, the Kings are going to want to improve from that brutal loss to Edmonton. “Mentally, I don’t think we were as sharp as we have been,” head coach Todd McLellan told media in the post-game press conference following the game.
So, let’s get back to sharpening.
Tale of the Tape
Power play:
LAK: 15.1% (29th)
VGK: 19.2% (T-19th)
Penalty kill:
LAK: 74.2% (29th)
VGK: 79.3% (T-17th)
Faceoffs:
LAK: 52.9% (6th)
VGK: 47.8% (T-25th)
Goals per game:
LAK: 2.83 (22nd)
VGK: 3.22 (T-10th)
Goals against per game:
LAK: 2.77 (T-10th)
VGK: 2.94 (19th)
Top scorers:
LAK: Anze Kopitar (14 goals, 42 points)
VGK: Chandler Stephenson (12 goals, 38 points)
Betting Odds
Courtesy of The Action Network:
Kings odds: +140
Golden Knights odds: -165
Over/Under: 5.5
Time: 7 p.m. PT
TV: SN, SN1, ATTSN-RM, BSW, ESPN+
Projected Lineups:
Here’s how the Kings practiced in El Segundo on Thursday, per Zach Dooley:
Iafallo-Kopitar-Kempe
Moore-Danault-Arvidsson
Athanasiou-Byfield-Brown
Lemieux-Lizotte-Kaliyev
Grundstrom/Andersson (RED)
Anderson-Doughty
Maatta-Roy
Bjornfot-Durzi
Petersen/Quick
Meanwhile, here’s what the Golden Knights went with in their game against the Avalanche on Wednesday:
Pacioretty-Eichel-Dadonov
Janmark-Karlsson-Smith
Marchessault-Stephenson-Roy
Carrier-Howden-Patrick
Hague-Pietrangelo
McNabb-Theodore
Hutton-Coghlan
Brossoit/Thompson
Assuming Robin Lehner is still out, I’d expect the Golden Knights to roll back with Laurent Brossoit tonight. It’ll be his 100th game played at the NHL level if so. He’s 9-4-2 with a .906 save percentage and 3.52 goals saved above expected this season.
All-time against the Kings, Brossoit is 2-2-0 with a .889 save percentage, so let’s hope LA can get that same Brossoit tonight.