Arizona Coyotes vs Los Angeles Kings 12/23/22 NHL Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Los Angeles Kings and the Arizona Coyotes meet in NHL action from the Mullett Arena on Friday night.

The Los Angeles Kings come into this one off of a hard-fought game against the Calgary Flames last time out. Heading into Thursday’s game, Kevin Fiala has a team-high 35 points with a team-high 25 assists, while Gabe Vilardi has 20 points with a team-high 13 goals and Anze Kopitar also has 29 points with 19 assists. Viktor Arvidsson also has 23 points as well this season. Jonathan Quick has gone 8-8-3 with a 3.55 GAA and an .882 save percentage while Pheonix Copley is 5-1 with a 2.43 GAA and a .912 save percentage this season.

The Arizona Coyotes will try to snap a three-game losing skid after a 5-2 loss to Vegas in their last game. Clayton Keller leads the Coyotes with 30 points including 12 goals and a team-high 18 assists while Shayne Gostisbehere has 23 points with 8 goals and 15 assists. JJ Moser has 15 points with 12 assists while Matias Maccelli has 22 points with 19 assists and Lawson Crouse has a team-high 13 goals on the year. Karel Vejmelka has gone 9-9-4 with a 3.19 GAA and a .908 save percentage while Connor Ingram has gone 1-7-1 with a 4.39 GAA and an .875 save percentage between the pipes for Arizona this season.

Los Angeles is 1-5 in their last 6 games played on no rest and 5-2 in their last 7 games against a team with a losing record while the under is 4-0 in their last 4 games overall. Arizona is 15-38 in their last 53 home games and 19-53 in their last 72 games against a team with a winning record while the over is 5-1 in their last 6 home games.

I get the case to be made for either side in this game, as the Kings have struggled on the second half of the back-to-back. However, L.A. has flat out owned Arizona in this head-to-head, and I just feel like the Kings are in the better spot both in this game and for the long term. I just want no part of the Coyotes right now. Give me the Kings by default here.