Joe Patarino 
The LA Kings look to wrap up their six-game road trip with a win as they take on the NHL’s top team in Boston on Thursday.
Projected Lineups
LA Kings (15-12-5)
Here’s how the Kings lined up during Tuesday’s loss in Buffalo:
Tonight's @LAKings Line Rushes –
Fiala – Kopitar – Kaliyev
Anderson-Dolan – Danault – Moore
Iafallo – Kempe – Vilardi
Grundstrom – Lizotte – FagemoAnderson – Doughty
Durzi – Roy
Bjornfot – WalkerCopley
Quick— Zach Dooley (@DooleyLAK) December 13, 2022
After allowing six goals in the third period, one would think there could be some changes for Thursday. Rasmus Kupari and Jordan Spence were called up before the Buffalo game, we’ll see if either of them draws in tonight.
Jonathan Quick should get the start to close the road trip.
We’ll learn more after the morning skate.
Boston Bruins (23-4-1)
This is how the Bruins could line up based on their morning skate:
Marchand – Bergeron – Hall
Zacha – Krejci – Pastrnak
Foligno – Coyle – DeBrusk
Greer – Nosek – Frederic
Forbort – McAvoy
Grzelcyk – Carlo
Zboril – Clifton
Ullmark
David Krejci appears to be making his return to the lineup tonight as he skated on Thursday morning. Worth noting that Hampus Lindholm was absent from the skate today due to an illness and will be a game-time decision. If he is unavailable, Jakub Zboril skated on the left side with Connor Clifton in practice.
5-on-5
Here’s how the two teams match up at 5-on-5 per Natural Stat Trick
| Team | CF% | xGF% | SCF% | HDCF% | SH% | SV% | PDO |
| Los Angeles Kings | 51.8 | 53.3 | 52.6 | 52.1 | 8.2 | 0.900 | 0.981 |
| Boston Bruins | 53.0 | 55.9 | 55.4 | 56.2 | 8.9 | 0.937 | 1.026 |
The Bruins continue to chug along as one of the best teams in the NHL year in, and year out. They are not only a strong possession team but also getting Vezina-caliber goaltending from Linus Ullmark this season. As a group, the team has the third-best save percentage at 5-on-5.
For Los Angeles, their metrics look better than the eyeballs would have you believe. The one thing that isn’t fooling the eyes is goaltending. It looks bad and, indeed, it is bad. They have the third-worst 5-on-5 save percentage in the NHL.
Special Teams
| Team | PP | PK |
| Los Angeles Kings | 23.4% (13th) | 70.4% (28th) |
| Boston Bruins | 28.6% (3rd) | 85.9% (1st) |
Not only is Boston one of the best teams at 5-on-5 they have, arguably, the best overall special teams in the league. Their 3rd ranked power play is led by David Pastrnak who has 18 points with the man advantage. Despite missing the first eight games of the season, Brad Marchand is second with 14 power play points.
Backstopped by their goaltending, the Bruins have the top penalty kill in the NHL.
The Kings cracked the top ten in power play percentage not that long ago but have slipped recently. For most teams, power plays will go through ebbs and flows. Boston certainly isn’t an ideal opponent to get right.
Betting Odds
Let’s look at the odds, courtesy of our partner 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 11:30 am ET/8:30 am PT may have changed since this was published.
The LA Kings come into this one as pretty heavy underdogs, with FanDuel’s +202 being the best price on the market. The host Bruins are -225 at DraftKings. The total across the board is set at six with a number of books offering the Over at -110 while BetRivers has the Under at -105.
This isn’t a game I’m touching. It seems if the Kings are going to win they’ll need to find that 1-3-1 defensive structure and win a low-scoring game. We just haven’t seen that enough this season to trust that to happen.
Good luck, and enjoy the game!
Follow me on Betstamp @JWPatarino!
(Main Photo Credit: NHL.com)