The Los Angeles Kings and Vegas Golden Knights meet in their second head-to-head preseason matchup. The Los Angeles Kings won the first matchup in Las Vegas 2-1 on September 26th.
Both NHL teams have two preseason games remaining before meeting to open the 2022-23 NHL season in Los Angeles on October 11.
2022-23 NHL Season
Notably, this game is being held at a neutral site in Salt Lake City, Utah, so there will be no home-ice advantage to speak of.
With the preseason almost complete, we’ll review the stats, recent trends, and the Kings vs Golden Knights odds for your NHL picks today.
Puck drop for the Los Angeles Kings vs. Vegas Golden Knights from the Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah, is scheduled for 9:00 P.M. ET on ESPN+.
Kings vs. Golden Knights Odds Breakdown
As of publication, there are limited Kings vs Golden Knights odds
available. Online sportsbooks have the Vegas Golden Knights as the moneyline betting favorite, listed between -135 and -141 odds.
The Los Angeles Kings are the moneyline underdog, listed between +105 and +120 odds. Vegas and Los Angeles are 2-3 on the moneyline in the preseason.
The Kings vs Golden Knights odds on the puck line aren’t as close as the money line odds. The Kings (+1.5) are the betting favorite on the puck line spread, listed with odds between -227 and -233.
The Vegas Golden Knights (-1.5) might be the favorite on the moneyline but are the betting underdog on the puck line, listed between +175 and +180 on the online sportsbooks we found this game listed at.
The total goals for the Kings game today against the Golden Knights are set at six on most online sportsbooks. The over is listed between -105 and -120 odds, while the under is listed between -105 and -115 odds.
Kings vs. Golden Knights Betting Preview
Los Angeles Kings
The Los Angeles Kings enter Thursday night’s matchup with a 2-2-1 (W-T-OTL) preseason record. The Kings lineup that lost 5-4 to the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday night seemed representative of what the Kings’ opening day lineup will look like, with a few exceptions.
In their 5-4 loss to the Ducks on Tuesday night, Los Angeles got two goals from Gabriel Vilardi and a 27-save performance from Cal Petersen in the net.
The Los Angeles Kings have three key players listed as day-to-day that need to be factored into your NHL picks today alongside the Kings vs Golden Knights odds.
Defenceman Sean Durzi, Centre Quinton Byfield, and left-winger Viktor Arvidsson are all listed as day-to-day.
Vegas Golden Knights
Performance Recap
The Vegas Golden Knights enter Thursday night’s matchup with a 2-2-1 (W-T-OTL) preseason record. Thursday’s matchup is the first of two games on the Golden Knights schedule to be played in a neutral site, with their final preseason game against the Arizona Coyotes being played in Boise, Idaho.
In their last preseason outing, the Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Arizona Coyotes 4-3 on Tuesday night.
Adin Hill, one part of the goaltending platoon replacing Robin Lehner for 2022-23, had a 50-save performance to help the Golden Knights get by the Yotes.
Vegas Lineup
The lineup that Vegas iced against the Coyotes wasn’t all that representative of what their opening-day lineup will look like.
The Golden Knights only played two of their starting six defensemen and didn’t play the likes of Jonathan Marchessault, Reilly Smith, or Mark Stone.
If the Golden Knights have a more representative roster on the ice on Thursday night, they should be the favored betting pick on the moneyline.
The Vegas Golden Knights have two players on the injury report, one of which is more significant to the Golden Knights success for the 2022-23 NHL season.
Left winger William Carrier is listed as day-to-day. The more significant injury is to Golden Knights starting goaltender Robin Lehner, who is out for the entire 2022-23 season following hip surgery.
This should affect how you evaluate the Kings vs Golden Knights odds and where Vegas’ will find itself in the NHL standings.
Los Angeles Kings vs. Vegas Golden Knights Betting Preview
While betting odds are available, we must assess betting trends carefully because we are still in the preseason.
Neither of the rosters the Kings or Golden Knights will send to the ice on Thursday will resemble the teams that first took to the ice in preseason action back in September.
During the 2022-23 NHL preseason, the Los Angeles Kings have only played in two games that have finished within the NHL standard 1.5 spread on the puck line.
This gives the Kings a 2-3 record against the spread. The Kings’ preseason record gives them a 2-3 record on the moneyline as well.
Moneyline
The Vegas Golden Knights are the betting favorite, with odds listed between -135 and -141. You’ll need to check closer to puck drop to see who fills out the Golden Knights roster for Thursday’s game before selecting the Golden Knights to win on the money line.
If Vegas has any of their top four defensemen or the bulk of their top six forwards in the lineup, take the Golden Knights to win on the money line.
Over/Under
Online sportsbooks have the total goals set to 6. Jonathan Quick is likely to start for the Los Angeles Kings and is the deciding factor if this game will hit the over or the under.
We’re leaning toward the over because we don’t believe in either team’s goaltending at this stage of the year.
Spread
We think the Vegas Golden Knights line-up will be more representative of a starting-night line-up on Thursday than they have iced throughout the 2022 NHL preseason.
This makes us lean toward the Golden Knights to cover the puck line spread (-1.5) and very favorable odds: +175 and +180.
NHL Pick: Golden Knights -1.5 (+180)
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