{"id":461146,"date":"2025-01-20T10:24:53","date_gmt":"2025-01-20T15:24:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=461146"},"modified":"2025-01-20T10:24:53","modified_gmt":"2025-01-20T15:24:53","slug":"nhl-predictions-penguins-vs-kings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2025\/01\/20\/nhl-predictions-penguins-vs-kings\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL Predictions January 20th Pittsburgh Penguins vs Los Angeles Kings"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Penguins<\/a> head west to face the Los Angeles Kings<\/a> in a late-night showdown at Crypto.com Arena. Welcome back to NHL Predictions<\/a> here on Last Word on Hockey! Each day, we provide in-depth analysis, insights, and predictions for all the NHL\u2019s games. Tonight, the Penguins aim to snap their recent struggles against a Kings team thriving at home.<\/p>\n

NHL Predictions<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Los Angeles Kings<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Head-to-Head:<\/strong>\u00a0Kings 0-1 Penguins<\/h4>\n

Time:<\/strong> 10:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST)<\/p>\n

TV:<\/strong>\u00a0SportsNet Pittsburgh; Bally Sports West; ESPN+<\/p>\n

This is the second and final meeting of the season between the Penguins and Kings. The Penguins took the first game 3-2. Pittsburgh is looking to bounce back from a loss against the Washington Capitals. Meanwhile, The Kings are looking to snap back into shape after their loss against the Seattle Kraken.<\/p>\n

The Penguins\u2019 Story<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The past few weeks have been disastrous for Pittsburgh. Whereas weeks ago they were in a wildcard spot with a clear path to make the playoffs, things have changed drastically. Pittsburgh is 2-5-3 in their last 10, sitting third last in the conference. Sidney Crosby<\/a> leads the team, scoring 49 points in 48 games. Rickard Rakell<\/a> has continued to stay hot, reaching 40 points and 23 goals in 48 games for the team. Michael Bunting<\/a> and Matt Grzelcyk<\/a> have been nice depth addition for the team. Bunting has 26 points in 46 games. Meanwhile, Grzelcyk has 24 points in 48 games while manning the top powerplay.<\/p>\n

In net, former starter Tristan Jarry<\/a> was sent down to the AHL for a second time this season following poor performances. With his demotion, rookie Joel Blomqvist<\/a> is back in the NHL. Facing the Washington Capitals<\/a>, Blomqvist saved 31 of 34 shots in a 4-1 loss. Even with the disappointing result, Blomqvist was able to once again pitch a respectable save percentage in his start against Washington.<\/p>\n

The Kings\u2019 Story<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Coming off a 4-2 loss to the Seattle Kraken<\/a>, the Kings are 25-13-5 on the season. This record puts the team for third in the Pacific division, staving off trams like the Calgary Flames<\/a> and Vancouver Canucks<\/a>. In their last 10, Los Angeles has played well with a 6-4-0 record. Leading the team is Adrian Kempe<\/a> and Anze Kopitar<\/a>, both with 42 points in 43 games. After them is a steep drop-off in scoring, with an emphasis on depth. The next highest scorer Alex Laferriere<\/a> has just 26 points in 41 games. The Kings offensive depth will need to shop up against the Penguin\u2019s defence.<\/p>\n

In net, Darcy Kuemper<\/a> is likely to get the start. Kuemper has been phenomenal this season with a .922 save percentage and a 13-4-5 record. Behind him, David Rittich<\/a> has an 11-9-0 record with a measly .867 save percentage. If Kuemper draws in for this game, expect Pittsburgh to struggle to get much by the netminder,<\/p>\n

Prediction<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The King\u2019s depth and goaltending have landed them in a good spot. The team has found a groove and settled into it. Pittsburgh on the other hand is a very hot and cold team. Right now, the Penguins are in a cold streak that doesn\u2019t seem ready to boil over anytime soon.<\/p>\n

Prediction:\u00a0Kings win 5-2.<\/em><\/p>\n

Prop Bet for the Night<\/strong><\/h3>\n

FanDuel\u2019s<\/a> Total Goals Over 6.0 (+108)<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 With Pittsburgh struggling to keep the puck out of their net, this Kings team has the depth needed to dominate on home ice.<\/p>\n

Main photo by: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images<\/em><\/p>\n

Please play responsibly, check for your local rules and age restrictions, some jurisdictions require ages 21+. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Penguins head west to face the Los Angeles Kings in a late-night showdown at Crypto.com Arena. Welcome back to NHL Predictions here on Last Word on Hockey! Each day, we provide in-depth analysis, insights, and predictions for all the NHL\u2019s games. Tonight, the Penguins aim to snap their recent struggles against a Kings team […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5231,"featured_media":461159,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4547,24,4548,12,4524],"tags":[872,4979,6028,6123,140],"class_list":["post-461146","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hockey","category-kings","category-nhl","category-penguins","category-nhl-predictions","tag-darcy-kuemper","tag-joel-blomqvist","tag-los-angeles-kings-predictions","tag-pittsburgh-penguins-predictions","tag-sidney-crosby"],"modified_by":"Dan Mount, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461146","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5231"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=461146"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461146\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":461160,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461146\/revisions\/461160"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/461159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=461146"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=461146"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=461146"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}