The Los Angeles Kings have battled back following a sluggish start to their campaign and now sit third in the Pacific Division. However, a young upstart San Jose Sharks team is playing above .500 hockey and sit just a couple of points behind their in-state rivals. Tonight at 10 p.m., these two Western Conference squads clash in a game that could have some significant impact on the division standings.
Check out a Kings vs. Sharks prediction and pick on DraftKings Sportsbook for Thursday’s contest.
Kings vs. Sharks prediction, preview
Los Angeles Kings
Over the last couple of weeks, L.A. has begun to significantly tighten up the blue line into a defense that resembles the franchise’s typical identity. The Kings are up to sixth-best in opponent scoring with just 2.70 GA/GM while holding foes to the ninth-fewest shot attempts at 26.1. Darcy Kuemper began the season poorly in net but is now sitting at a 2.42 GAA, playing particularly well with a 4-1 record thanks to a 1.61 GAA and .932 SV% over his last five games. The netminder is hot right now as the Kings continue to lean on him. While the offense is still less than spectacular with just 2.75 GF/GM without an individual 20-point scorer, they’re getting the job done. Adrian Kempe keeps making the case for his next contract with a team-high 19 points, while Quinton Byfield has 17 and Kevin Fiala paces skaters with nine goals to the tune of 15 total points. Special teams are a concern here though — Los Angeles is 25th in PP% (16.4%) and 17th in PK% (79.1%).
San Jose Sharks
While likely still a long shot to make the postseason, the Sharks are making a real case for a come-up through the opening month. Their .525 points percentage has them hanging around in the Pacific Division and they’re just three points behind the Kings, so a win tonight could put San Jose within striking distance. While you can’t give all the credit to one player, Macklin Celebrini’s ascension to superstar status seems clear — with 30 points in 20 games, he sits third in the entire NHL behind only Nathan MacKinnon and Connor McDavid. These sharks aren’t exactly dominant on either end of the ice at 22nd in both GF/GM (2.95) and GA/GM (3.20), but they’re scrappy enough to compete with just about anyone on a nightly basis. Will Smith is second on the team with 19 points, followed by William Eklund’s 13 and four other skaters with 11 apiece. The goalie tandem of Yaroslav Askarov and Alex Nedelijovic are a smidge leaky with GAAs approaching 3.00, but the good news is San Jose’s special teams numbers are quite similar to L.A.’s.
Kings vs. Sharks pick, best bet
DraftKings Sportsbook lists the Kings as -180 favorites on the Moneyline tonight, while the Sharks come in at +150 odds. The total sits at 5.5 combined goals.
If Kuemper plays as well as he has over the last several contests, then San Jose faces a difficult test in this contest. The Sharks average the fewest shot attempts per game of any team with just 24.2, so against a blue line that’s come around lately, then there may be relatively few pucks put on net here. While Celebrini is the best player on the ice in this one, he’ll need support from his teammates as well against a tough defense.
There’s one very interesting stat to note that guides my pick for tonight. Los Angeles plays on the road… where they have a 9-2-2 record on the season. To this point, the Kings rise to the occasion when on someone else’s ice with a goal differential of +10 and 11.1% shooting percentage compared to a -9 differential and 6.8% shooting split at home (where they’ve gone 1-4-2. It’s tough to tell exactly why, but L.A. puts forth its best effort as the visitor. With a hotter goalie and a clear goal in mind to gain some breathing room in the Pacific, I like them to down the Sharks here — even with San Jose 7-2-1 over its last 10 contests overall.
