LA Kings vs Seattle Kraken projected lineup, betting preview

After Sunday’s overtime loss to Ottawa, the LA Kings are back at Crypto.com Arena on Tuesday night against the Seattle Kraken.

Projected Lineups

LA Kings (12-9-3)

Here’s how the Kings lined up during Sunday’s loss to Ottawa:

Tonight's @LAKings Line Rushes –

Fiala – Kopitar – Kempe
Moore – Danault – Arvidsson
Andersson – Lizotte – Grundstrom
Anderson-Dolan – Kupari – Kaliyev

Anderson – Doughty
Durzi – Roy
Edler – Walker

Quick
Petersen

*No Gabe Vilardi (upper-body injury, day-to-day)

— Zach Dooley (@DooleyLAK) November 28, 2022

Gabriel Vilardi was a late scratch with an upper-body injury, but he did skate on Monday. We’ll see if he’s able to go on Tuesday; if so, I would expect Lias Andersson to be the odd man out. I’d expect both the blueline and goaltender to be the same. The Kings play again on Thursday against Arizona; perhaps that’ll be a spot for Cal Petersen, but Jonathan Quick would be my guess on Tuesday.

Seattle Kraken (13-5-3)

Schwartz – Wennberg – Burakovsky
McCann – Beniers – Eberle
Tanev – Gourde – Bjorkstrand
Donato – Geekie – Sprong

Dunn – Larsson
Oleksiak – Schultz
Soucy – Borgen

Jones
Grubauer

One change we could see is Morgan Geekie left the last game with an upper-body injury. Keep an eye on any morning skate reports for an update. Phillip Grubauer is off of IR, but with how well former LA King Martin Jones has played, I don’t think they’ll be a reason for them to go away from him at the moment.

5-on-5

Here’s how the two teams match up at 5-on-5 per Natural Stat Trick

The Kraken have been a solid 5-on-5 team again this season; the biggest difference has been their goaltending. Their .925 5-on-5 save percentage is in the top ten in the NHL.

Los Angeles has been slightly better in most possession metrics, though at times, it sure hasn’t felt like it. They continue to be among the league’s worst in 5-on-5 save percentage.

This will be the third matchup of the season between the two teams. Though Seattle has won both of the first two, the Kings dominated much of the puck possession, controlling over 57% of the shot attempts in the first meeting and over 60% in the second.

Special Teams

Seattle’s power play checks in at 23.2%, good for 12th in the NHL. Andre Burakovsky‘s eight power play points lead the Kraken, while Jaden Schwartz‘s four goals are the most on the team.

The LA Kings power play has goals in three straight as they now sit in 16th place at 22.4%. The power play heating up is good news against a Seattle penalty kill that is one of the worst in the league at 69.7%. Arthur Kaliyev scored two against the Senators with the man advantage; his six power play goals this season are good for sixth in the league.

LA’s penalty kill is slowly creeping up, but still in the bottom third of the league at 74.7%.

Betting Odds

Let’s take a look at the odds, courtesy of our partner Betstamp (promo code: hockeyroyalty).

*Note: the odds below are for sports books offered in New York. Refer to available sports books specific to your state.
**Odds as of 9:30 am ET/6:30 am PT may have changed since this was published.

Despite dropping the first two games against the Kraken, the Kings come into this one as home favorites, with a couple of books offering -120. If you like the Kraken, BetMGM’s +110 is the best bet. The total on the game is six, with BetRivers offering -112 on the Over and WynnBet showing Even money on the Under.

If the Kings get closer to -105 or -110, I’ll be more interested in backing them. Otherwise, it’ll likely be a pass for me.

DraftKings Player Props

Sponsored by DraftKings (promo code THPN)

For Sunday’s preview against Ottawa, I made the case for Adrian Kempe to score at +125. I still think he’s on the puck and on a line that is going to generate scoring chances. I’ll go back to the well again at +140.

The Kings’ power play has been hot, Arthur Kaliyev has been among the best goal scorers in the NHL with the man advantage. With that plus, Seattle’s struggling penalty kill, Kaliyev at +340 to register a power play point would interest me.

Oliver Bjorkstrand leads the Kraken in Individual Corsi-For and Individual Scoring Chances-For on the season, he is +245 to find the back of the net. Similarly, Jordan Eberle is fourth and second in those categories, as well as second in Individual High Danger Chances-For; he is +290 to score.

Good luck, and enjoy the game!

Follow me on Betstamp @JWPatarino!

(Main Photo Credit: NHL.com)