LA Kings at New Jersey Devils projected lineups, odds, notes

The LA Kings are on the east coast for their next three games, the first of which is Thursday in New Jersey.

Projected Lineups

LA Kings (32-19-7)

The Kings suffered a 2-1 loss in Minnesota on Tuesday; here’s how they skated:

Tonight's @LAKings Line Rushes –

Byfield – Kopitar – Kempe
Moore – Danault – Arvidsson
Fiala – Lizotte – Iafallo
Vilardi – Kupari – Kaliyev

Anderson – Doughty
Durzi – Roy
Edler – Walker

Copley
Quick

— Zach Dooley (@DooleyLAK) February 22, 2023

New Jersey Devils (37-15-5)

Here’s how the Devils lined up in their 5-2 loss to Montreal on Tuesday:

Tatar – Hischier – Mercer
Sharangovich – Hughes – Bratt
Palat – Haula – Zetterlund
Wood – McLeod – Boqvist

Smith – Hamilton
Graves – Marino
Siegenthaler – Severson

Vanecek
Schmid

5-on-5

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

There is almost nothing the Devils are not really good at, though of late, their underlying numbers haven’t been quite as good at 5-on-5 as their overall season. They are sub-50% at CF% and xGF% at 5-on-5 in their last 25 games.

Special Teams

For how good the Devils are, their power play is merely average. It’s no wonder they’re heavily linked to Timo Meier.

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 10 am ET/7 am PT may have changed since this was published.

The Kings are road underdogs, with multiple books offering +125. DraftKings has the best price on the Devils at -140. The total is 6.5 across the board, with BetRivers offering +102 on the Over and DraftKings having the Under at -115.

I think this game is fairly priced. Yes, the Kings are good, but the Devils are not only better (in my opinion) but also play in a significantly more difficult division and conference. I’ll be sitting this one out.

News & Notes

• This will be the second meeting of the season between the two teams, with the Devils taking the first one 5-2 in Los Angeles.
• The Kings shuffled their line combos up during the game in Minnesota, though I wouldn’t necessarily expect these to stick for the game in New Jersey.
• The Devils were off on Wednesday, but goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood “tweaked something” prior to Tuesday’s game.
• A fun matchup today will be the Kings’ stingy neutral zone against arguably the best rush offense in the NHL. Only three teams grade better than the LA Kings when it comes to allowing zone entries with possession (per All Three Zones), and Mikey Anderson is the biggest reason for that. The 23-year-old, freshly signed blueliner is one of the best defensemen in the league at defending his own blue line. He’ll have his hands full today with these Devils forwards:

  • 

    

     

• Both teams have aspirations of winning their respective divisions this season. New Jersey is five points back of Carolina in the Metro, while the Kings trail Vegas by just two points.

(Main Photo Credit: NHL.com)