LA Kings vs Montreal Canadiens projected lineups, odds, notes

The LA Kings return home on Thursday with some new faces to take on the Montreal Canadiens.

Projected Lineups

LA Kings (34-20-8)

Here’s how the Kings skated in their thrilling 6-5 win in Winnipeg:

Tonight's @LAKings Line Rushes –

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

Anderson – Doughty
Durzi – Roy
Edler – Walker

Copley
Quick

— Zach Dooley (@DooleyLAK) March 1, 2023

It remains to be seen where Vladislav Gavrikov slots into the lineup. Joonas Korpisalo will backup Pheonix Copley.

Montreal Canadiens (26-30-4)

Here’s how Montreal lined up in their 3-1 win in San Jose on Tuesday:

Hoffman – Suzuki – Gurianov
Harvey Pinard – Drouin – Anderson
Pitlick – Dvorak – Ylonen
Pezzetta – Tierney – Belzile

Guhle – Savard
Matheson – Barron
Harris – Kovacevic

Allen

5-on-5

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

It shouldn’t be too surprising to see LA be much better across the board in the 5-on-5 metrics. The Kings’ 5-on-5 save percentage has hovered right around .900 all season. We’ll see if the addition of Joonas Korpisalo helps improve that down the stretch.

Special Teams

One of Anze Kopitar‘s four goals on Tuesday came on the power play, giving the Kings goals in back-to-back games with the man advantage. Montreal is one of the rare teams with a penalty kill that has performed worse than LA’s.

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

The LA Kings are pretty big home favorites in this one, with BetRivers offering the best price at -244. The visiting Canadiens are +220 at FanDuel. The total on the game is 6.5, with Caesars offering the Over at even money and multiple books offering the Under at -115.

News & Notes

• This will be the first game for the LA Kings in the post-Jonathan Quick era. Oddly enough, the two-time Stanley Cup Champion may soon be a part of the rival Vegas Golden Knights.
• The Montreal Canadiens also have something new in their lineup, forward Denis Gurianov, who they received from Dallas in exchange for Evgenii Dadonov. Gurianov made his debut for Montreal in San Jose on Tuesday, registering six shots on goal in 17:02 of time on ice.
• LA is home for the next three against teams on the outside of the playoff picture. They’re also home for ten of their next 11 games. This is as good a stretch as any to overtake the Vegas Golden Knights atop the Pacific Division. Currently, Vegas has a two-point lead over LA.
• The NHL Trade Deadline is tomorrow, and while the Kings have already made two additions to their lineup, Rob Blake did allude to wanting to add more depth to his roster for the playoff run.
• This is the first of a back-to-back for Montreal, so I would expect to see Jake Allen get the nod in goal tonight.
• LA’s two newcomers have chosen their numbers. Gavrikov will wear 84 while Korpisalo will keep his number 70.

(Main Photo Credit: Francois Lacasse/NHLI via Getty Images)