Seattle Kraken vs. Los Angeles Kings Odds
| Kraken Odds | +150 |
| Kings Odds | -180 |
| Over/Under | 6 (-115/-105) |
| Time | 10:30 p.m. ET |
| TV | BSW |
| Odds via BetMGM. Get up-to-the-minute NHL Odds here. | |
The Seattle Kraken and the Los Angeles Kings will both be looking for their first wins of the young NHL season when they meet up at Crypto.com Arena on Thursday night.
Los Angeles dropped a 4-3 decision to the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday in a tight contest that was decided by Mark Stone's last-minute goal.
For their part, Seattle is heading into El Segundo for the second game of a back-to-back set. Unable to protect a pair of two-goal leads, they fell 5-4 in overtime to the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday.
Here's the latest on both teams, and your best bet for Thursday night.
Seattle Kraken
Playing on back-to-back nights on the road after going to overtime on Wednesday, the Kraken have the tougher test, schedule-wise, in this matchup. That being said, the challenge should be muted somewhat: it's early in the season, players are fresh, and the travel was only a quick bus ride up I-5 from Orange County to Los Angeles.
The Kraken played a robust game in Anaheim, outshooting the Ducks 48-27 and holding a whopping 70.16% edge in expected goals at 5-on-5.
Seattle was strong on the power play, going 3-for-5 on the night with goals from Jared McCann and newcomers Andre Burakovsky and Oliver Bjorkstrand. But their penalty killing was shaky — the Ducks went 2-for-3 with the man advantage. And it took just 55 seconds of 3-on-3 play in overtime before John Gibson quick-upped the put to Troy Terry near center. He outskated Burakovsky for the scoring chance that turned into the game-winning goal.
Despite a promising preseason, Philipp Grubauer finished the night with -2.6 goals saved above expected in the Seattle net, per MoneyPuck. Expect to see newcomer Martin Jones against the Kings. The 32-year-old who started his career with the Kings was also strong in preseason, giving up four goals in three appearances for a 1.91 goals-against average and .925 save percentage. Last season, he finished at -9.4 goals saved above expected in 35 games with a bad Philadelphia Flyers team.
Los Angeles Kings
The advanced stats were not as kind to the Kings in their season opener. They were outshot 51-30 and controlled just 38.36% of expected goals at 5-on-5 against Vegas on Tuesday. The Kings never led in the game and didn't come away with a point, but they were hanging onto a tie until the 19:36 mark of the third period.
Special teams were not a strength. L.A. only earned three power plays on the night, and failed to capitalize on any of them, while Vegas went 1-for-5 on their opportunities.
A bright spot was Jonathan Quick's play in net. Despite giving up four goals, he's kicking off his age-36 season with a .922 save percentage and 0.5 goals saved above expected. He should get his second start of the year on Thursday.
Kraken vs. Kings Pick
This early in the season, game odds are heavily influenced by historical data. In 2021-22, the Kings finished 39 points ahead of the Kraken in the Pacific Division standings and went 3-1-0 in their season series against Seattle. That explains why they were solid favorites on the opening line, at -167.
But that number has now moved to -180, which is a bit curious. Yes, L.A. has home-ice advantage and will be better-rested. But both teams suffered late collapses in their openers, so that's a wash. And Seattle showed much better in terms of puck possession in its opener.
If you're looking at the moneyline, BetMGM is offering an appealing +150 if you're willing to bet that the Kraken can play another strong game.
But after both teams took big steps to boost their scoring punch in the offseason and executed well offensively in their openers, the over of 6.0 looks like a safe pick to hit.
Pick: Over 6.0 (-115); play down to -125
