As usual, Tuesday brings a loaded NHL slate with tons of games to choose from throughout the evening. Once the early contests wrap up, the late slate sees a clash between Western Conference contenders as the Los Angeles Kings battle the Winnipeg Jets on the West Coast. With both sides over the .500 mark and coming off playoff appearances, this remains one of the better matchups of the night both in terms of talent on the ice and betting appeal.
Get ready for the action with a Jets vs. Kings prediction and pick on DraftKings Sportsbook for Tuesday night.
Jets vs. Kings prediction, preview
The Jets lost Nikolaj Ehlers over the offseason but seem to have adapted just fine thus far. At 9-3-0, their 18 points are the second-most of any NHL franchise and the goal differential of 15 remains the best league-wide. Winnipeg averages a league-high 3.75 GF/GP as Mark Scheifele paces all NHL skaters with 20 points (9G/11A), and he’s followed closely by fellow first-liner Kyle Connor’s 17 points (8G/9A). However, Gabriel Vilardi playing at the best points pace of his career with 13 in 12 games while Josh Morissey’s 11 points are tied for second-most among defensemen. The Jets fall top-10 in PP% (25.6%) and FOW%, but the defensive play on the blue line is also excellent — their 2.50 GA/GP sits third-best and an 89.4% PK% comes in fifth. One can debate the merits of goaltender Connor Hellebuyck’s postseason play, but he’s posted an excellent 2.34 GAA and .921 SV% with six wins in nine appearances.
The Kings are also above .500 with a 5-4-4 record, but a goal differential of -7 shows they’re not exactly a dominant squad. Los Angeles falls 22nd in GF/GP (2.77) and just 25th in PP% (16.2%) with an offense that takes the eighth-most shots. Unsurprisingly, Adiran Kempe leads the team with 15 points (5G/10A), but Quinton Byfield is the only other player in double-digits with 10 (2G/8A). Kevin Fiala sits third with nine, followed by three other Kings with seven points. Unlike last season’s defensive dominance, L.A. allows 3.15 goals per game, 21st in the league, and the penalty kill rate of just 74.0% sits in the bottom-10 teams. The Kings are averaging more shots than they give up, but netminder Darcy Kuemper has struggled for the most part in his nine starts with a 2.85 GAA and .891 SV% after a Vezina-caliber campaign last year.
Jets vs. Kings pick, best bet
DraftKings Sportsbook lists the Kings as -130 home favorites on the Moneyline tonight, while the Jets enter with +110 odds to win outright. The total sits at 5.5 combined goals.
Unlike last season, Los Angeles has struggled when playing at home with an 0-3-2 record in their own arena. Meanwhile, Winnipeg holds a 4-0-0 line on the road thus far and also enter with three consecutive wins. While I understand the edge the home team often gets when it comes to hockey, these odds feel a bit backwards given the play of these two sides to start the 2025-26 campaign. Simply put, the Jets are absolutely rolling over opponents on a nightly basis with one of the NHL’s most fearsome first lines and an elite combination of blue liner and goaltender. On the opposite bench, the Kings lack high-end stars and have little momentum behind a netminder who’s started out on the wrong foot through the first leg of he season.
Winnipeg should dominate this game tonight in the late slate. They’re a solid pick on the Moneyline at +105 but taking them at +170 for a regulation win provides additional value and insulates a little bit of the risk with the Jets -1.5 alt line listed at +235, though that’s also a reasonable selectin.
