Los Angeles Kings vs Boston Bruins - Odds and Predictions

Where: TD Garden – Boston, MA.

When: Tuesday, December 17, 7 PM EST

How (TV/Radio): NESN, FSW | WFAN

Los Angeles Kings (Away)

Head Coach: Todd McLellan{All-Time 123-119-24 LAK, EDM, SJS}

It’s been a news-heavy weekend for the Los Angeles Kings.

The team announced they were parting ways with forward Ilya Kovalchuk and the team’s captain Anze Kopitar also passed Wayne Gretzky to become the team’s all-time scoring leader. They are also coming off of a rare win heading into Tuesday night.

Offense

Believe it or not, as much as the Los Angeles Kings will have their hands full with the Boston Bruins, they are actually entering this game with two significant advantages.

Most impressively will be their advantage in the faceoff circle. The Kings will likely be able to start a majority of plays with puck possession. L.A. ranks eighth in the league with a 51.2face off percentage compared to the Bruins who rank 18th with a 49.8 percent.

The Kings also put more shots on net. In fact, they are the second-highest shooting team in the NHL and they average 34.1 shots on net per game.

Unfortunately, those shots rare translate into goals for the Kings. Los Angeles has scored the fourth-fewest goals this season and have the league’s worst shooting percentage at 7.2 percent.

The Kings also enter this game with the NHL’s third-weakest power-play unit. The Kings have only a 12.62 power-play percentage.

Defense

Coincidentally, not only do the Kings take a ton of shots but they also allow very few against them. L.A. has allowed the third-fewest shots against this season.

Unfortunately for them, their goaltending has been lackluster and the team has a combined save percentage of just .881 – the second-worst in the league.

Another weakness is that even though the Kings take very few penalties, they can’t kill off the ones they do take. Averaging under eight penalty minutes per game, the Kings’ penalty kill percentage sits at 73.96 percent. That’s the third-worst in the NHL behind only Detroit and Buffalo.

Goaltending

Los Angeles staple Jonathan Quick is expected to get the nod Tuesday night against the Bruins.

Quick has struggled over his last few seasons and currently holds a season record of just 9-12-2. His goals-against average sits at 3.06 and he has a .891 save percentage.

Head Coach: Bruce Cassidy{All-Time 185-106-9-35 BOS, WSH}

Sitting first in the Atlantic division, the Boston Bruins are healthier than they’ve been for much of the season and, like their opponents, are also coming off of a win. This game kicks off a four-game homestand for the Bruins. They are 12-1-5 at home this season.

Offense

Although it’s taken a small drop over the past week, Boston’s biggest offensive threat is their power play. At the time of writing, the Bruins had the league’s third-best power play percentage at 28.41 percent – scoring a total of 25 power-play goals this season.

The Bruins have also scored a combined 105 goals this season. Only Colorado and Washington have scored more goals than Boston.

Believe it or not, the Bruins are one of the lowest-shooting teams this year but they make their shots count. Boston’s shooting percentage sits at 11.2 – good for fifth in the league.

It’s also worth mentioning that leading scorer David Pastrnak now sits at 28 goals on the season and he and linemate Brad Marchand have a combined 98 points.

Defense

It’s safe to say that Boston’s biggest defensive advantage has been the goaltending of both Tuukka Rask and Jaroslav Halak. Although the team allows a fair amount of shots against, the Bruins have only allowed 69 goals against – the second-fewest in the league and only one more than the Islanders.

The goaltending tandem of the Bruins has a combined .927 save percentage, putting them behind only the Arizona Coyotes, and they have a combined four shutouts this season.

The Bruins also come into this game with a significantly better penalty-killing unit as well. They take more penalties per game on average that the Kings but they have been killing off 83.5 percent of them.

Goaltending

Tuukka Rask will be starting in goal Tuesday night for the Bruins. Rask has been having an incredible season, boasting a season record of 13-4-3. He has a 2.24 goals-against average, a .926 save percentage, and two shutouts.

This will be the first matchup of the season for these two teams They last played each other on February 16. It was the Boston Bruins that came away from the game with a 4-2 victory over the Kings.

This is Boston’s game to lose.

A win for the Bruins would move them to within three points of the Washington Capitals for league domination.

The Kings sit at 27th in the league at the time of writing with only 31 points on the season. A win is nice for any team’s morale but should Los Angeles pull off the upset, don’t expect it to mean their whole season will turn around.

Questions to Answer

How will the Kings play on the road? Boston has only lost one game in regulation in their home arena (they are 12-1-5 at the TD Garden). The Kings have played poorly all season, especially on the road where they have a record of 4-12-2.

Which Jonathan Quick will show up for the Kings? Although he still has moments of sheer brilliance, his best days seem to be behind him. He has been inconsistent at best this season.

How will the Kings’ third-worst penalty kill handle going head-to-head with Boston’s third-best power play? How important is it for L.A. to stay out of the penalty box?

Los Angeles Kings Injury Report

D Alec Martinez – DL (wrist)

D Derek Forbort – IR/NR (back)

Boston Bruins Injury Report

D Kevan Miller – IR/NR (kneecap)

F Anton Blidh – IR/NR (shoulder)

F Zach Senyshyn – DL (lower-body)

F Karson Kuhlman – DL (leg)

Los Angeles Kings vs Boston Bruins Odds

The latest odds for this game are provided by bet365 NJ, DraftKings Sportsbook, and Sugarhouse NJ.

Good luck!

Money Line