by Chuck Sommers
Tuesday, Dec 06, 2022
Time: 7 p.m. ET
Venue: Canadian Tire Centre, Ottawa, ON
Where to watch: RDS, TSN5, BSW
Opening Odds at USA Sportsbooks
DraftKings: Kings -115, Senators -105
FanDuel: NL
BetMGM: Even
Caesars: Even
Season record
Kings: 13-10-4
Senators: 10-13-1
Two months into the NHL season, and man, what action we’ve had. So much parity, so many good teams through the first 10-plus games, you have every right to be excited! It’s still a three-team race between Vegas, Boston and New Jersey. But this is a good time to be playing these hockey games, as well. Look no further than our own Doc's Sports on a 14-7-0 run over the first 30 days of the NHL season. There's also ASA, Inc. posting a 12-5-1 mark through the first month. You know you can trust our champion handicappers to get you across the finish line with your NHL bets. Check out our Best Bets page at bigal.com to see what we're throwing down!
Kings - Senators preview, prediction and analysis
Recent results
Kings: lost 4-2 vs. Hurricanes on Saturday
Senators: won 5-2 vs. Sharks on Saturday
Kings analysis
The Los Angeles Kings come into Tuesday’s game having lost three of four and are in a period where they’re giving up a ton of goals with no help on defense or with goaltending. So much so that the Kings eventually waived Cal Petersen and are leaving Jonathan Quick to fend for everything else. Which, in the year 2022, is not helping the cause.
Quick made 27 saves in the 4-2 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes over the weekend. In the last four games, the Kings have given up a grand total of 19 goals. This is just defensive deficiency at its worse and there might not be anything left for the Kings to survive at this rate.
"The ones that got away on us ended up in the net, and it wasn't the goaltender's issue. It was ours," Los Angeles coach Todd McLellan said. "… The ones that got away on them, we came close but not close enough."
The Kings continue to show how fraudulent they are. One minute you want to believe in them with all the depth and talent they have at the forward position, but then their defensive schemes are just all over the place. They’re not sound under McLellan’s system and you wonder if a change needs to happen at some point.
Sure, they’re definitely still in a playoff spot and things are looking up from last year’s performance. But they can’t be doing this kind of defensive performance and expect to contend down the road.
Senators analysis
Claude Giroux continues to be a great veteran presence for the Ottawa Senators. He scored twice in Ottawa’s 5-2 win against the San Jose Sharks over the weekend. It was another up-and-down situation for Ottawa as it tries to find its groove.
"We were playing good hockey for a while and we weren't getting the results," Giroux said. "And when you don't get the results, you start doubting the way you're playing. But we just have to trust that the way we're playing is going to work. Tonight was a great example of just having to stick with it."
That’s the key for Ottawa right now, and that’s why they’re in the mix for a defenseman. They have the talent up front to score plenty of goals. They have the young talent that will get better with the puck as time goes on.
But they’re lacking heavily at the blue line, especially in the physical aspect. The Senators can’t rely on Giroux, Alex DeBrincat or Tim Stutzle to score five goals a game. Until that happens, Ottawa can’t be considered a serious threat in the Eastern Conference.
In time, maybe. But right now, that’s not the way to go. But if you’re scoring that many goals a night against a team that can’t play defense, that’s one way to win some more.
Prediction
I don’t trust the Kings at the back end or the goaltending situation against an offense that is young and is playing with nothing to lose. Senators win 5-2
Betting trends
Kings are 15-7 on the road after a non-conference game the last 2 seasons.
Kings are 24-18 ATS after losing 2 of their last 3 the last 2 seasons.
Senators are 4-14 at home after a non-conference game the last 2 seasons.
Projected lines
Kings:
Kevin Fiala -- Anze Kopitar -- Adrian Kempe
Trevor Moore -- Phillip Danault -- Viktor Arvidsson
Gabriel Vilardi -- Blake Lizotte -- Arthur Kaliyev
Carl Grundstrom -- Jaret Anderson-Dolan -- Samuel Fagemo
Mikey Anderson -- Drew Doughty
Tobias Bjornfot -- Matt Roy
Alexander Edler -- Sean Durzi
Jonathan Quick
Senators:
Brady Tkachuk -- Tim Stutzle -- Claude Giroux
Alex DeBrincat -- Shane Pinto -- Drake Batherson
Tyler Motte -- Dylan Gambrell -- Mathieu Joseph
Parker Kelly -- Mark Kastelic -- Austin Watson
Thomas Chabot -- Artem Zub
Jake Sanderson -- Travis Hamonic
Erik Brannstrom -- Nick Holden
Cam Talbot
Statistical leaders
Kings:
Points: Kevin Fiala – 28
Goals: Gabe Vilardi – 13
Assists: Kevin Fiala – 20
Goalie: Jonathan Quick – 8-7-2, 3.33 GAA, .888 SV%
Senators:
Points: Brady Tkachuk – 29
Goals: Brady Tkachuk – 12
Assists: Brady Tkachuk – 17
Goalie: Cam Talbot – 4-6-0, 2.50 GAA, .919 SV%
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Chuck Sommers
About the Author:
Chuck Sommers has camped outside of sportsbooks since he can remember, learning the tricks and nuances of the trade. He still has nightmares of betting $5,000 on the Raiders in the Tuck Rule game but has since turned that to 25 years of veteran handicapping greatness. You can find him mostly in the shadows at the Red Rock or Aliante casinos wondering if the over is cashing on any given Sunday.
