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Friday night in the NHL sees the Winnipeg Jets<\/a> play host to the red-hot Los Angeles Kings<\/a> at Canada Life Centre. Welcome to NHL Predictions here at\u00a0Last Word on Hockey<\/em>, where each day we preview and predict the upcoming slate of NHL games around the league! In this article, we will preview and predict the matchup between the Winnipeg Jets and Los Angeles Kings. Be sure to check out all of our NHL Predictions throughout the 2024-25 season and follow along with your favourite teams.<\/p>\n Time<\/strong>: 8:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST)<\/p>\n TV<\/strong>: TSN3; FDSNW; ESPN+<\/p>\n Winnipeg and Los Angeles will meet for the second time this season on Friday night. The Kings took the first meeting on November 28th<\/sup> by a 4-1 score in Los Angeles. That meeting was a dominant win by the Kings. They outshot Winnipeg 33-14 overall and allowed the Jets to create just seven high-danger scoring chances at five-on-five play. Phillip Danault<\/a> had the game-winning goal in the second period while Anze Kopitar<\/a>, Kevin Fiala<\/a> and Adrian Kempe<\/a> rounded out the scoring. Gabriel Vilardi<\/a> had the lone tally for Winnipeg.<\/p>\n Los Angeles is in the midst of an impressive four-game winning streak, with wins over the Oilers<\/a>, Flyers<\/a>, Devils<\/a> and Lightning<\/a> in that stretch. Though the Kings offensive analytics aren\u2019t that impressive over their streak, they do stand out in a few categories. The Kings rank second in the NHL in five-on-five goals-for percentage since the Christmas break (Winnipeg is first) and are within the top five in five-on-five save percentage over that time.<\/p>\n The NHL season hasn\u2019t even made it to the middle of January, but Connor Hellebuyck<\/a> has already solidified his third Vezina Trophy. Hellebuyck, who was a near-unanimous winner a season ago, leads the league with a sparkling 2.08 GAA, five shutouts, 25 wins and sits a shade off the lead in save percentage. Other than being among the lead in all of those major categories, he is miles ahead of second for the lead in goals saved above average<\/a>.<\/p>\n Furthermore, the eye-test is confirming all of these notions for Hellebuyck. In Winnipeg\u2019s 5-2 win over Nashville<\/a> on Wednesday (Hellebuyck\u2019s 300th<\/sup> career win), his 26-save total wasn\u2019t an eye-popping number. However, he stonewalled the Predators after an early onslaught of chances. To cap off the performance, he made four saves late in the game as he helped his team kill off a one-minute, 26-second five-on-three situation. It was yet another tremendous effort from Hellebuyck.<\/p>\n This will be a highly entertaining matchup between two of the top teams in the Western Conference. These are two clubs with outstanding depth up and down their lineups and truly resemble one another in their construction and style of play. Though the Jets might possess a bit more firepower, it is the Kings who have been the stingiest team defensively<\/a> in the NHL thus far, having allowed the fewest goals against in the league. The discrepancy of the power plays (Winnipeg ranked 1st<\/sup>, Los Angeles ranked 28th<\/sup>) causes hesitation to lean the Kings way in this matchup. However, the Kings structure at five-on-five play will keep them in this one. Expect this to be a low-scoring, competitive game with a certain veteran forward from Slovenia scoring the winner.<\/p>\nNHL Predictions<\/h2>\n
Winnipeg Jets vs Los Angeles Kings<\/h3>\n
Head-to-Head: Jets 0-1 Kings<\/h4>\n
The Kings are Streaking<\/h4>\n
Vezina Trophy Race is Already Over<\/h4>\n
NHL Predictions \u2013 Jets vs Kings<\/h3>\n