A jam-packed Wednesday night around the NHL includes a matchup between the Winnipeg Jets and the Los Angeles Kings. Welcome to NHL Predictions here at Last Word on Hockey, where each day we preview and predict the upcoming slate of NHL games around the league! Be sure to check out all of our predictions throughout the 2024-25 season and follow along your favourite teams.
NHL Predictions
Los Angeles Kings vs Winnipeg Jets
Time: 10 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST)
TV: TSN3, FDSNW; ESPN+
This game has all the makings of a physical, grinding, playoff-style matchup. Winnipeg is coming off of a stellar 4-1 road win in Minnesota while Los Angeles is looking to rebound from an embarrassing 7-2 loss at the hands of the San Jose Sharks. This is the first meeting of the season between these two clubs. Winnipeg took two of the three meetings between the teams a season ago, and has a 6-4 record over Los Angeles in their last 10 meetings overall. The team that has failed to score more than three goals has lost the last four games between the two clubs.
Hellebuyck: Goaltending Class of the NHL
The Jets leaned heavily on Connor Hellebuyck in their win over Minnesota last game. In that contest, the Jets displayed their stellar team defense and their commitment to playing a 200-foot game in front of Hellebuyck. This is exactly what is needed when you’re on a road trip facing tough opponents. After making 43 saves, Hellebuyck has now won three straight starts and nine of his last ten overall. Every game he is providing evidence that he is the top goaltender in the NHL.
Winnipeg undoubtedly has an advantage in the crease in every game they play and that stark advantage is apparent in their matchup with Los Angeles. With Darcy Kuemper on IR, David Rittich is handling the bulk of the load for the Kings. Los Angeles’ goaltending was a question mark prior to the season and is now even more so moving forward.
Jets Road Record Regression
Despite their win in Minnesota, Winnipeg’s road record has regressed back towards league average in the last weeks. Prior to playing Minnesota, the Jets had lost three of their last four road games; they had started the season 7-0 away from home. In those last four road games, they scored one or zero goals three times. Star forward Kyle Connor recorded just one goal and one assist in those four games and was held pointless in three of them. Not an encouraging trend. Though they bucked it slightly against the Wild, the Jets will need to get back to finding the back of the net. Meanwhile, Los Angeles has been a force at home this season, sporting a 6-2-1 record and have only five goals against in their last four home games.
Adrian Kempe is on a Heater
The Los Angeles sniper has been red-hot the last five games with five goals and seven points. He is one of the most crucial offensive players in their lineup and a catalyst for the team’s success. Though unexpectedly he has only scored two times against the Jets in his career (19 games played). Regardless, he leads the King in goals (10) and plus-minus (plus-9) this season and is on pace for a near 40-goal campaign. If Los Angeles is to win this game, Adrian Kempe must be involved offensively.
NHL Predictions – Kings vs Jets
We expect this game to be a breakthrough game for the big guns on the Jets. They have had tremendous contributions from their depth players over the last while, but this is a game for their stars. They will be uncontrollable in 5 on 5 play and make the difference on the power play. The Jets still boast the top power play unit in the league while Los Angeles sits 28th. That is enough to be what separates the teams on this night. Furthermore, the hot hand of Connor Hellebuyck continues to scorch.
Prediction: Jets win 4-3
Prop Bet of the Night
Even though we called out Kyle Connor earlier, we’re sticking with him in this one. It’s a game for the stars of Winnipeg; you must include Connor when you say star. The FanDuel Sportsbook line has Connor at +265 to record 2+ points in this game. In the last four games that Connor has recorded at least one point, three of them have been multi-point efforts. He is a streaky scorer and point-making; Crypto.com Arena is a grand stage for another multi-point game for him.
Main photo by: James Carey Lauder-Imagn Images
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