Golden Knights vs. Kings NHL Best Bets Today

The NHL odds at all of the best online sportsbooks on this one are showing the Knights as between -150 and -160 road favorites, and if we look at the history between these clubs it’s not surprising to see why. Vegas won six of eight games against the Kings last season by an average margin of victory of 2 ½ goals. Not much has changed this season because the Knights are still deep and talented while the Kings will have a tough time keeping the swarming Vegas forwards out of their zone.

Vegas Golden Knights vs. Los Angeles Kings

Thursday, October 14, 2021 - 10:30 PM EDT at Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA

Max Pacioretty’s two goals paved the way for the Golden Knights’ successful season debut over the NHL’s brand-new entry, the Seattle Kraken. Although Vegas head coach, Peter DeBoer, was not elated over his team’s preseason play, he was pleased with the outcome.

“I think our exhibition schedule was kind of up and down a little bit but we’ve got a veteran group and they know when it’s time to dial it up and be ready to play and I thought our group was ready to play tonight,” DeBoer said.

Chandler Stephenson and Jonathan Marchessault also lit the lamp for the Knights while Robin Lehner turned aside 25 of 28 shots. Speaking of Lehner, his seat at the head of Vegas’s goaltending table came after the team traded beloved netminder, Marc-Andre Fleury, to the Blackhawks in what was a salary dump to free up more cap space. The thunderous ovation Lehner received in the first game of the season was the fans’ way of saying they have accepted him as the new man between pipes.

“I loved it,” DeBoer said of the fans’ reaction toward Lehner. “I’m glad the fans gave him that. I think he’s gonna be really good for us. This was a tough night that he’s been thinking about for a long time and he got us a big win.”

https://twitter.com/LAKings/status/1448641134847094784?s=20

Kings Ready to Roll

Los Angeles wants to put last season as far back in their rearview mirrors as possible after finishing the truncated 2020-2021 campaign with a 21-28-7 overall mark and a dismal 9-14-5 record at home, finishing near the bottom of what was called the West Division (now the Pacific). They are hoping that the changes made in the offseason will bear fruit this year.

Phillip Danault from the Canadiens, right-wing Viktor Arvidsson from the Predators and defenseman Alex Edler from the Canucks are all new arrivals that are being counted on to boost the Kings from cellar-dweller to playoff contender. That’s a lot to expect in one season.

Jonathan Quick will be patrolling the crease for the Kings but he is hopefully recovered from the injuries that plagued him last season, resulting in a rather underwhelming 2.86 goals-against average with a .898 save percentage. He will have to do much better than if he is to slow down the offensive machine of the Golden Knights.

Wanna Make a Bet?

The Kings have gotten quite a bit of buzz because of the moves they have made in the offseason but what they have done is not enough to mitigate what is really a rather weak roster from top to bottom. Jonathan Quick will not last the season and his form is far removed from what it was in his heyday. At 35, goalies don’t recover from injuries and spring into game shape as quickly as they once did.

Expect to see the Knights dictate the pace and tempo of this game from the opening drop of the puck until the final buzzer. I would normally lay the 1 ½ goals but with the season being so new and the Kings an unknown commodity at this point, we will risk a bit more for our NHL picks, and cash a ticket even if this turns out to be a close game and the Knights win a by a puck.

NHL Pick: Knights -150

*The pick reflects the line at the moment the writer made the play, the odds at the beginning of this article show the live line movement. Since the lines might vary, don’t forget to refer back to our live odds.