LA Kings vs San Jose Sharks projected lineups, odds, notes

The LA Kings can tie the Vegas Golden Knights in points atop the Pacific Division with a win over the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday.

Projected Lineups

LA Kings (24-14-6)

Here’s how the Kings lined up in their 6-3 win over Edmonton on Monday:

Tonight's @LAKings Line Rushes –

Byfield – Kopitar – Kempe
Iafallo – Danault – Arvidsson
Fiala – Lizotte – Vilardi
Lemieux – Kupari – Anderson-Dolan

Anderson – Doughty
Durzi – Roy
Edler – Walker

Copley
Quick

— Zach Dooley (@DooleyLAK) January 10, 2023

We’re still waiting on updates on forwards Trevor Moore and Arthur Kaliyev. We’ll see if there’s any information from the morning skate on them and who may be between the pipes.

San Jose Sharks (13-21-8)

Here is how San Jose skated during their 4-2 win in Arizona on Tuesday night:

#SJSharks lines at Mullett, Kahkonen starts, Eyssimont makes his Sharks debut, Ferraro moves up with Benning:

Meier-Hertl-Labanc
Nieto-Couture-Barabanov
Bonino-Sturm-Eyssimont
Gadjovich-Lorentz-Lindblom

Megna-Karlsson
Ferraro-Benning
Harrington-Vlasic

Kahkonen

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) January 11, 2023

5-on-5

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

Special Teams

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 11 am ET/8 am PT may have changed since this was published.

Predictably the Kings come in as heavy home favorites, with the best price being BetMGM’s -200. San Jose is +175 at a few different books. As I’ll point out in a bit, the Sharks are not a pushover. They’ve been a competitive team this season, and despite them on a back-to-back, I don’t think I feel comfortable laying this big of a number on LA.

The total is at 6.5 across the board. Multiple books have the Over at -110, while BetRivers’ -102 is the best number on the Under.

News & Notes

• The San Jose Sharks’ penalty kill ranks second in the NHL, which is surprising given their goaltending this season. Oddly enough, they have a .892 save percentage at 5-on-5 – which is dead last in the league – yet have the fifth-best penalty kill save percentage at .886.
• Though the Sharks played last night, they’re a bit of a sneaky competitive team this season. Over the previous 25 games, they’re a top ten team in xGF% and third best HDCF% it 5-on-5 in the NHL (per Natural Stat Trick). They play a quality-over-quantity type of game.
• Kaapo Kahkonen played Tuesday in Arizona, so I would expect to see James Reimer between the pipes against LA.
• The Kings are 2-0 against the Sharks with a 5-2 win back on November 25th and a 3-2 win on December 17th. LA held a 53% CF% advantage at 5-on-5 in the most recent meeting, but the scoring chances and xGF% were dead even (per Natural Stat Trick).
• Kevin Fiala had a pair of goals to go along with two assists on Monday against Edmonton. All four points came on the power play. He has five goals and six assists in his last six games.
• Viktor Arvidsson has four goals and 11 assists in his last ten games. He quietly is up to second on the team in points (33).
• With a win, the Kings would tie the Pacific Division-leading Vegas Golden Knights in points (56). Vegas will have three games in hand after Wednesday’s game, however.
• In their last nine games against Pacific Division opponents, the LA Kings are 7-0-2, with their last loss coming on November 18th in Vancouver.
• Ironically enough, that is the last time they lost in regulation to a Western Conference opponent. Their previous six regulation losses have all come against Eastern Conference teams.

(Main Photo Credit: NHL.com)