LA Kings at Ottawa Senators projected lineup, betting preview

The LA Kings hit the road for six games beginning on Tuesday in Ottawa for their second game against the Senators in nine days.

Projected Lineups

LA Kings (13-10-4)

It was a different look during the Kings’ practice on Sunday:

Fiala – Kopitar – Kaliyev
Moore – Danault – Arvidsson
Iafallo – Vilardi – Kempe
Anderson-Dolan – Lizotte – Fagemo

Anderson – Doughty
Durzi – Roy
Edler – Walker
Bjornfot – Clarke

Quick
Copley

A lot to unpack here. Arthur Kaliyev moves from the bottom six to the top line next to Anze Kopitar. Adrian Kempe, who has spent virtually all of this season and last next to Kopitar, will move to the third line alongside Gabriel Vilardi and Alex Iafallo. Vilardi is back at center for the time being and Iafallo will be a welcome sight for Kings’ fans as the steady winger looks to make his return to the lineup after a lengthy injury.

On the back end, Tobias Bjornfot has played in each of the last two games since being called up, but it looks like he’ll sit this one out with Todd McLellan going back to the pairings we’ve seen throughout the season.

With four games this week, including back-to-back on Saturday and Sunday, I’d expect to see Phoenix Copley make his LA Kings’ debut, but Jonathan Quick is the likely starter on Tuesday.

Ottawa Senators (10-13-1)

Here’s how the Sens lined up during practice on Monday:

Tkachuk-Stützle-Giroux
DeBrincat-Pinto-Batherson
Motte-Brassard-Joseph
Kelly-Kastelic-Gambrell

Chabot-Zaitsev
Sanderson-Hamonic
Brannstrom-Holden#Sens today.

— Bruce Garrioch (@SunGarrioch) December 5, 2022

The only change here from the last time the two teams met is defenseman Artem Zub took a puck in the face and will miss some time with a fractured jaw. Other than that the lineup remains largely unchanged. Anton Forsberg and Cam Talbot split the last two starts, Talbot is most likely to get the nod on Tuesday.

5-on-5

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

Two evenly matched teams at 5-on-5 went to overtime in their first meeting with the Sens edging out the Kings in Los Angeles. Ottawa deservedly got the win, controlling 54% of the shot attempts and over 60% of expected goals at 5-on-5. It was a pair of Arthur Kaliyev power play goals that helped the Kings pick up a point.

Special Teams

Two of the league’s better power plays will get together in this one. Ottawa cracks the top ten with a 25.8% conversion rate, while the Kings come in at 12th with a 24.7%.

The Senators have the league’s 18th-best penalty kill at 78% while the Kings come in at 26th with a 73% penalty kill rate.

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.

Unsurprisingly, the oddsmakers have this one pretty close. The hosts are slight favorites at -108 at FanDuel while the visiting Kings are -104 at BetRivers. The total on the game is 6.5 with a couple of books offering the Over at Even money while five books are offering the Under at -115.

If the Kings were to get to plus money in this one, I’d be open to making a play on them. This is a likely pass for me.

DraftKings Player Props

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With Arthur Kaliyev’s move up to the top line, he figures to see more ice time at 5-on-5 in addition to his usual power play time. He is +350 to score on Tuesday.

I’m going to go back to the power play well with the Kings and this time look to Phillip Danault. His unit has been hopping over the boards first more recently and at +470, I like the tenacious puck hound to tally a power play point in Ottawa.

For the Sens, Tim Stutzle is +225 to find the back of the net and Shane Pinto is +500 to record a power play point. Those, as well as Thomas Chabot’s -110 to register more than 2.5 shots, are worth considering.

Good luck, and enjoy the game!

Follow me on Betstamp @JWPatarino!

(Main Photo Credit: John McCoy, AP)