Vegas Golden Knights at Los Angeles Kings NHL Picks & Predictions 12/29/2018

Saturday, December 29, 2018

Staples Center

Get todays NHL hockey odds on this game.

The Vegas Golden Knights head to Staples Center to take on the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday, December 29, 2018. The opening line for this contest has the Golden Knights at -140 and the Kings at +127.

Vegas has a record of 21-15-4 this year. They are 3rd in the Pacific Division. They've tallied 119 goals and surrendered 113 goals for a point differential of +6. For the year they have an ATS mark of 21-19-0 and an over/under record of 19-19-0. Los Angeles has a record of 15-20-3 this season. They are 8th in the Pacific Division. They have scored 88 goals and given up 113 for a goal differential of -25. Their record against the spread is 15-23-0 while their over/under mark is 16-21-0.

Valuable Vegas Golden Knights Betting Trends

The Vegas Golden Knights are 21-19-0 straight up this year

The Vegas Golden Knights are 19-19-0 against the over/under this season

Important Los Angeles Kings Betting Trends

The Los Angeles Kings are 15-23-0 straight up this year

The Los Angeles Kings are 16-21-0 against the over/under this season

Key Vegas Golden Knights Injuries

12/27/18 D Colin Miller Undisclosed is questionable Saturday vs Los Angeles
12/27/18 LW Max Pacioretty Lower Body is questionable Saturday vs Los Angeles
11/07/18 LW Erik Haula Knee is out indefinitely

Key Los Angeles Kings Injuries

12/27/18 C Jeff Carter Upper Body is questionable Saturday vs Vegas
12/22/18 D Alec Martinez Undisclosed IR (12/22)
12/15/18 D Dion Phaneuf Upper Body is out indefinitely
11/26/18 LW Carl Hagelin Lower Body is out indefinitely
11/17/18 C Trevor Lewis Foot is out indefinitely
11/12/18 GO Jack Campbell Knee is out 4-6 weeks
10/03/18 RW Jonny Brodzinski Shoulder IR (10/03)

Player Spotlight

William Karlsson has scored 29 total points this year for the Golden Knights. He has 14 goals this season with 80 shots on net, giving him a shooting percentage of 18%. He has a total of 15 assists on the year and averages 19.4 minutes played per contest. Jon Marchessault averages 19.2 minutes of ice time per game this season. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 9% by tallying 13 goals on 144 attempts. He has 16 assists, giving him a total of 29 points on the year. Marc-Andre Fleury has 21 wins and 10 losses this season in goal for the Golden Knights. He has 982 shots against him and he's surrendered 90 goals. He's made 892 stops for a save percentage of 91%.

Player Spotlight

Anze Kopitar has 24 total points this season for the Kings. He has 8 goals this year with 79 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 10%. He has a total of 16 assists on the year and averages 22.7 minutes played per contest. Dustin Brown averages 21 minutes of ice time per contest. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 12% by scoring 10 goals on 83 attempts. He has 10 assists, giving him a total of 20 points on the year. Jonathan Quick has 5 wins and 8 losses this season in net for the Kings. He has 446 shots against him and he's given up 43 goals. He's made 403 saves for a save percentage of 90%.

Useful Team Statistics

The Golden Knights have 46 total points this year, which is 10th in the NHL. They've scored 119 goals while giving up 113 scores, which has them ranked 11th and 14th respectively. They have had 124 power play chances and scored 26 goals on those opportunities for a percentage of 21%. That is 15th in the league. The Golden Knights have given up 117 power play opportunities and surrendered 20 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 83%, ranking them 8th when short-handed. They average 33 shots per contest and as a team shoot 9.15% for the year. They allow 29 shot attempts to their opposition per game and have a team save percentage of 90%, which is 20th in the league.

Useful Team Statistics

The Kings are 31st in the league with a total of 33 points this season. They have 16 power play goals on 106 chances for a percentage of 15%. That is 25th in the NHL. They've given up 112 power play opportunities and surrendered 29 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 74%, ranking 31st overall. As a team, the Kings are 31st with a total of 88 goals scored while they've given up 113 goals this season, ranking 16th in goals against. They average 29 shots per game and have a team shooting percentage of 8.01%. As a unit they give up 31 shots per contest and have a save percentage of 91%, putting them 14th overall in the NHL.

Advanced Statistics

Vegas is 3rd in the NHL in Corsi percentage with 54.3%, as they've attempted 2,525 shots on net at full strength while they've given up 2,125 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage is 53.5% as they have 1,829 attempts while they have given up 1,589 shots on the defensive end. That ranks them 4th in the league. The Golden Knights start possessions in the offensive zone 54.1% of the time, which is 7th in the league, while their defensive zone percentage is at 45.9% for the season. That is 25th overall in the NHL. They have 1,153 face-off wins compared to 1,224 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 48.5%. That ranks them 22nd in the league. On defense Vegas has 1,090 hits and they have blocked 536 shots from the opposition, putting them 14th overall.

Advanced Statistics

The Kings are 21st in the league in starting possessions in the offensive zone, doing so 48.5% of the time. Their defensive zone percentage is at 51.5% for the season, which is 11th in the NHL. They have 1,180 face-off wins compared to 1,132 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 51%. That is 11th in the league. On defense Los Angeles has 865 hits and they have blocked 543 shots from the opposition, which is 11th in the league. Los Angeles is 21st in the NHL in Corsi percentage with 48.9% as they've attempted 2,108 shots on net at full strength while they've given up 2,200 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage of 48.6% ranks 23rd as they have 1,566 attempts while they have given up 1,657 shots on the defensive end.

Who will win tonight's Golden Knights/Kings NHL game against the spread?

Josh's Pick: Take Los Angeles +127

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