New Jersey Devils vs Los Angeles Kings: Game preview, predictions and odds

New Jersey Devils vs Los Angeles Kings: Game preview, predictions and odds | January 1, 2025

Modified Jan 01, 2025 16:44 GMT

NHL: Edmonton Oilers at Los Angeles Kings - Source: Imagn — New Jersey Devils vs Los Angeles Kings - Source: Imagn

The New Jersey Devils are on the road to play the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday at 6 p.m. ET. New Jersey (24-13-3) suffered a 3-2 loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Los Angeles (21-10-5) is coming off a 5-4 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday.

Devils vs Kings: Head-to-head & key stats

New Jersey is 42-57-11-4 all-time against Los Angeles
The Devils are averaging 3.3 goals per game
LA is 12-2-1 at home
New Jersey is allowing 2.5 goals per game
The Kings are averaging 3.18 goals per game
The Devils are 12-7 on the road
Los Angeles is allowing 2.61 goals per game

New Jersey Devils vs Los Angeles Kings: Preview

New Jersey is coming off a loss to Anaheim on Tuesday and now plays the second half of a back-to-back. The Devils are led by Jesper Bratt, with 47 points. Jack Hughes has 46 points, Nico Hischier has 34 points and Timo Meier has 28.

The Devils will start Jake Allen, who's 5-6-1 with a 2.89 GAA and a .897 SV%. In his career against Los Angeles, he's 6-7-1 with a 2.34 GAA and a .926 SV%.

Los Angeles, meanwhile, is on a two-game winning streak. The Kings will start Darcy Kuemper, who's 9-2 with a 2.43 GAA and a .907 SV%. In his career against New Jersey, he's 0-5-4 with a 2.70 GAA and a .912 SV%.

The Kings are led by Anze Kopitar, who has 39 points. Adrian Kempe has 35 points, Alex Laferriere has 26 points and Kevin Fiala has 22.

Devils vs Kings: Odds & Prediction

New Jersey is a -118 favorite, while Los Angeles is a -102 underdog, with the over/under set at 5.5 goals.

The Devils are playing the second half of a back-to-back, which is always tough, and they will be going to their backup goalie.

Los Angeles has also been stellar at home this season, and the success should continue here as the Kings will be able to edge out a competitive win.

Prediction: Los Angeles 3, New Jersey 2.

Devils vs Kings: Betting Tips

Tip 1: Los Angeles ML (-102)

Tip 2: Under 5.5 goals (+105)

Tip 3: Kevin Fiala 3+ shots on goal (-145)

Tip 4: Timo Meier 3+ shots on goal (-115)

About the author

Cole is an NHL, NFL and College Sports reporter at Sportskeeda with over 7 years of experience writing for publications like CBC, USA Today, SMG, BJPENN, Sherdog and SB Nation.

An NHL fan his whole life, Cole played rep hockey in Canada from age 5 until 17 and grew up rooting for Martin St. Louis and the Tampa Bay Lightning. His all-time favorite players are Vincent Lecavalier and Steven Stamkos, while Jon Cooper is his favorite coach of all time.

Cole attended Sheridan College and received his journalism degree in 2019. After decades of watching and reporting, he considers his knowledge of sports as his primary strength. He ensures that the same story has been reported by at least two reputed reporters before creating it.

Cole enjoys playing golf and spending time with friends and family when not reporting breaking stories. His favorite sports moment is from the 2010 Olympics, when Sidney Crosby scored the golden goal in overtime to beat Team USA for the gold medal.

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Edited by R. Elahi