Los Angeles Kings vs. Vancouver Canucks: Prediction, Preview, Picks & Odds - 11/18/2022

Time: 10 p.m. ET

Venue: Rogers Arena, Vancouver, BC

Where to watch: BSW, SN

DraftKings: Kings -115, Canucks -105

FanDuel: Kings -115, Canucks -104

BetMGM: Kings -115, Canucks -105

Caesars: Kings -120, Canucks +100

Kings: 11-7-1 (23 points)

Canucks: 5-9-3 (13 points)

Kings: won 3-1 at Oilers on Wednesday

Canucks: won 5-4 at Sabres on Tuesday

Only one game on the NHL docket for this Friday, and it must kill the Vancouver Canucks to be the one with all eyes on them as they try to get back on track. It won’t be easy with the Los Angeles Kings coming to town, who are on a 7-2-1 run in their last 10.

 

The Kings, overall, have won five of six and are coming off a 3-1 win in Edmonton in the second game of their Western Canada road trip. Trevor Moore recorded his first NHL hat trick, Viktor Arvidsson had a hat trick of assists, and Cal Petersen made 22 saves to get him on track after a rough start to the year.

 

"It was kind of funny, I didn't feel like I had my best tonight," Moore said. "It was just kind of one of those games where the puck finds you, or I should say my linemates found me, so it was good to get those bounces out there." 

 

If there was any doubt to the Kings possibly taking a step back after making the playoffs last year, so far that’s not the case. Los Angeles is looking strong in almost every facet (maybe goaltending could use some work). Kevin Fiala has looked every bit like the much-needed star addition that the Kings have needed, leading the way with 18 points in 19 games. Gabe Vilardi leads the way with 10 goals, as well.

 

But what’s most impressive about the Kings is they can win in many different ways. If they need to go full-on offense, they can score five in a shootout against the Florida Panthers. If they need to tighten it up the next night against the Minnesota Wild, the Kings can win a 1-0 game. There are just so many different ways that you don’t know what you’re going to get from this Kings team.

 

And if that’s any indication to give pause against the Canucks, maybe so. But we don’t know exactly what we’re getting from Vancouver as its struggles continue. The Canucks may have won 5-4 in Buffalo the other night, but that comes with two factors: 1) The Sabres aren’t great right now, and 2) the Canucks just gave up 13 goals in three losses to really good teams.

 

Who knows if the 5-4 win against the Sabres is going to be enough to put them over the top as things progress, but babysteps in this league. Bo Horvat had a goal and two assists in a big game for the Vancouver captain, and Elias Pettersson also had two points in the win.

 

"Obviously, we felt pretty good about holding that lead," Horvat said. "Obviously, in games past we haven't, and we definitely take our positives out of tonight. We did a lot of good things. Blocked some shots and a lot of key things to get pucks out toward the end there. We're all really happy with our effort tonight."

 

The Canucks were not supposed to be this bad, and there’s plenty of time to get things on the right track, but injuries halted the progress of what they’ve tried to do under Bruce Boudreau.

 

I need to see more from the Canucks before trusting them. They haven’t been good the last few years after games where the over has certainly cleared, and they’re not in good position right now to be trusted if it goes to a low-scoring game. L.A. is a runaway. Kings win 4-1

Kings are 32-25 off an under the last two seasons.

Kings are 30-26  on the road after playing on the road the last 3 seasons.

Canucks are 11-25 after playing a game where 8 goals or more were scored over the last 3 seasons.

Kings:

Adrian Kempe -- Anze Kopitar -- Gabriel Vilardi

Trevor Moore -- Phillip Danault -- Viktor Arvidsson

Kevin Fiala -- Rasmus Kupari -- Carl Grundstrom

Jaret Anderson-Dolan -- Blake Lizotte -- Arthur Kaliyev

Mikey Anderson -- Drew Doughty

Sean Durzi -- Matt Roy

Alexander Edler -- Sean Walker

Jonathan Quick

Canucks:

Ilya Mikheyev -- J.T. Miller -- Brock Boeser

Andrei Kuzmenko -- Elias Pettersson -- Nils Hoglander

Vasily Podkolzin -- Bo Horvat -- Conor Garland

Dakota Joshua -- Nils Aman -- William Lockwood

Quinn Hughes -- Tyler Myers

Oliver Ekman-Larsson -- Ethan Bear

Riley Stillman -- Luke Schenn

Thatcher Demko

Points: Kevin Fiala -- 18

Goals: Gabe Vilardi -- 10

Assists: Kevin Fiala -- 12 

Goalie: Jonathan Quick -- 6-5-2, 3.09 GAA, .895 SV%

Points: Bo Horvat -- 20

Goals: Bo Horvat -- 14

Assists: Quinn Hughes -- 14

Goalie: Thatcher Demko -- 1-8-2, 4.02 TGA