The NHL’s season-opening face-offs continue with Los Angeles Kings hosting Colorado Avalanche.
These Western Conference rivals were well matched last year and both will be hoping for better after being eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.
The last five meetings between these teams have gone the way of the home team and it looks worth backing that trend to continue.
Just three points separated the teams at the end of their 82-game schedules last season, with Colorado putting up a 49-29-4 record compared to the Kings’ 48-25-9.
Both rosters are largely intact and both have made some intriguing additions, while both will firmly be expecting to reach the postseason as a minimum.
Kings legend Anze Kopitar has announced that this, his 20th NHL season, will be his last, and the team will want to make sure his final home opener is a memorable one.
Their task is made slightly easier by the fact that Colorado’s first-choice goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood is not ready to start the season, although backup Scott Wedgewood put up impressive numbers in his 19 starts last regular season.
The Kings should be in better shape defensively, with Drew Doughty back to full fitness and new addition Cody Ceci adding depth.
Los Angeles boasted the second-best goals-against record in the whole league last season and, if goaltender Darcy Kuemper can maintain his form, then they should again prove hard to breach.
While the Kings are a defensive powerhouse, their games against the Avs tend to feature plenty of goals and LA edged a wild one 5-4 when they last met at Crypto.com Arena in April.
Both sides pack a punch. Only Washington Capitals bettered Colorado’s goal tally of 277 last season, while the Kings with 250 were third in the Pacific Division for scoring.
Andrei Kuzmenko was a great late-season acquisition for the Kings, while the big news for Colorado fans is that captain Gabriel Landeskog is ready to go for the season opener.
If he can stay fit, Landeskog should make the Avs’ offense even stronger.
Landeskog missed three full seasons after undergoing numerous operations for a knee injury, but the team stuck by him and the Swede returned from his lengthy absence for the Avs’ brief playoff run last season.
Playing five games, Landeskog posted a goal and three assists as Colorado were eliminated in a seven-game first-round series by Dallas Stars.
That’s a very promising indication that Landeskog remains a valuable asset and he can make his presence felt on this first regular-season appearance since March 2022.
Projected to skate on the second line alongside three-time 30-goal scorer Brock Nelson and the talented Valeri Nichushkin, the 32-year-old should get plenty of opportunities to put points on the board.
Read more betting picks and predictions for the NHL on site.
Colorado Avalanche
-105
Los Angeles Kings
-115
Puck Line
LA Kings -1.5
Total
O/U 6.0
Nathan MacKinnon (COL Avalanche)
+125
Valeri Nichushkin (COL Avalanche)
+190
Adrian Kempe (LA Kings)
+190
Kevin Fiala (LA Kings)
+190
Quinton Byfield (LA Kings)
+210
Arturi Lehkonen (COL Avalanche)
+240
Read the latest NHL news on site.
This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.
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