The LA Kings are back home on Saturday for a meeting with the San Jose Sharks after Thursday’s shootout win over the Boston Bruins.

Projected Lineups

LA Kings (16-12-5)

Here’s how the Kings lined up for Thursday’s win:

We’ll have to keep an eye out for any morning skate updates to see if there are any changes now that the team is back in Los Angeles.

San Jose Sharks (10-16-5)

Here is how the Sharks skated during Friday’s practice:

The Sharks are coming off back-to-back wins over Anaheim and Arizona, as well as points in three straight as they had an overtime loss to Vancouver before those.

James Reimer will get the start in this one.

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
San Jose Sharks 49.0 51.7 51.1 56.1 9.3 0.897 0.990
Los Angeles Kings 51.7 53.1 52.5 52.1 8.1 0.901 0.982

This Sharks team has been much more competitive than I think many people expected. They’re right around league average when it comes to 5-on-5 possession metrics and have really controlled the high-danger share so far this season.

Special Teams

Team PP PK
San Jose Sharks 23.1% 71.1%
Los Angeles Kings 21.3% 84.6%

San Jose comes into this one with one of the top penalty kills in the league as their 84.6% is good for third in the NHL. The LA power play had gone 0-for-11 in the four games before the Bruins game and were 0-for-5 in that one before Adrian Kempe scored on a 5-on-3 late in the third period to tie the game. At home, their power play has clicked at 29.6%.

Betting Odds

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.

Via Betstamp

The LA Kings come into this one as home favorites with FanDuel offering the best price at -156. DraftKings is offering San Jose at +145. The total on the game is either 6 or 6.5 depending on where you shop. Though DraftKings has the total at 6.5, the +105 makes it a better value than laying -120 on the 6. The best value on the Under is PointsBet’s +105 on the Under-6.

LA opened as larger favorites last night which came as a bit of a surprise to me. They’re coming off a lengthy east coast road trip and did not have any additional time off between Thursday and Saturday’s games, despite the cross-country trip. I expected this line to come down and think it could a little more. Considering the travel and continued inconsistent play from the Kings, I’m not touching them in this one.

News & Notes

  • This is the second meeting of the season between the two teams with LA winning the first 5-2, but it was San Jose who was the better team. Per NST, the Sharks controlled over 53% of shot attempts, 56% of expected goals, and 56% of scoring chances at 5-on-5. The Kings were bailed out by a very poor performance from goaltender James Reimer (-2.19 GSAx per MoneyPuck).
  • I thought it was noteworthy that Todd McLellan went back to Pheonix Copley on Thursday even after giving up six in the third period in Buffalo. His 2.94 goals-against average and .901 save percentage lead the Kings. He’s only played four games, but his -0.9 goals saved above expected (per MoneyPuck) is far and away the best on the team. It’ll be interesting to see if the team decides to ride him while it’s going well.
  • The Kings’ third line is in desperate need of a change. Jaret Anderson-Dolan, Adrian Kempe, and Gabriel Vilardi had just 25% of the shot attempts at 5-on-5 against the Bruins while the Kempe-centered third line against Buffalo wasn’t much better (38.9% 5-on-5 CF%). It’s been a problem for a while now, particularly on this road trip. With the return to Southern California, we could be nearing the return of Quinton Byfield to that spot. In Byfield’s 13 games in Ontario, he has 14 points, including a team-leading nine goals. The Reign were in Bakersfield on Friday so I’m not sure how likely it is that he’ll get the call for Saturday.
  • After four games without a goal, Kempe now has four in his last three games, including two on Thursday. He’s been a bit of a streaky scorer in his career but the Kings could certainly use him finding the net more often. Per Natural Stat Trick, his scoring chances per 60 minutes and high-danger chances per 60 minutes are better with Anze Kopitar than with any other player. I still think Kopitar’s wing is a good spot for him.
  • The Kings are the only team currently in a playoff position with a negative goal differential (-11).
  • LA hasn’t won back-to-back games since November 10th and 12th against Chicago and Detroit.

 

(Main Photo Credit: Harry How/Getty Images)

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