Kings vs PredatorsFinal Score & Recap

The Nashville Predators (8-4-5) bring a four-game winning streak into Crypto.com Arena to face the Los Angeles Kings (5-8-2) on Tuesday at 10 PM ET on ESPN+, Hulu and Disney+. Los Angeles is a -137 to -143 home favorite despite a 2-5-0 record at home. Here's the tension: Nashville's 29.8% power play meets a Kings penalty kill working at 62.5%. Our call: no edge.

How these teams got here

Nashville is the hotter team. The Predators have won four straight: 5-4 in a shootout over Tampa Bay on Oct. 31, 4-1 over Carolina, 3-2 in overtime at Colorado and 3-1 over St. Louis on Saturday. They're 6-2-2 in their last 10 with 21 points through 17 games. The underlying numbers are steady rather than dominant: 3.00 goals for and 2.82 against per game, on just 26.0 shots per game. The special teams have done much of the work.

Los Angeles has been hard to read. The Kings have alternated wins and losses over their last eight games, most recently a 7-2 rout of San Jose on Nov. 4 and then a 5-2 home loss to Pittsburgh on Saturday. They score at the same 3.00 per game as Nashville but allow 3.47. The home record of 2-5-0 is the ugliest line on the résumé; they're 3-3-2 on the road.

Rest is a wash, since both teams last played Saturday. Nashville visits Anaheim on Wednesday, so this is the first half of a back-to-back for the Preds. That could shape their goalie decision.

Special teams are the whole story

This is the matchup that jumps off the page. Nashville's power play is converting at 29.8% (17-for-57), and its penalty kill sits at 88.5%. Los Angeles kills penalties at 62.5%. If the Kings hand Nashville three or four power plays, the math tilts hard toward the visitors. The Kings' own power play (23.1%) runs into one of the better kills they'll face.

Steven Stamkos is the man to watch: 10 goals, six of them on the power play, and 19 points. Filip Forsberg (5 goals, 15 assists) and Roman Josi (2 goals, 18 assists) both have 20 points, and Ryan O'Reilly adds 17 with four power-play goals. For Los Angeles, Artemi Panarin leads with 18 points (8 goals, 10 assists), and Adrian Kempe has 13.

The goaltending numbers also favor Nashville, but neither starter was confirmed Tuesday morning. Juuse Saros has made 12 starts (5-3-4, .911 save percentage, 2.62 GAA). Justus Annunen (3-1-0, .874, 3.40) has started two of the last four, including the overtime win in Denver. With Anaheim on deck, either could start here. Darcy Kuemper has carried the Kings' crease (5-4-1, .878, 3.53) and allowed four goals on 18 shots against Pittsburgh. Anton Forsberg has the better rate numbers (.902, 2.51) but is 0-4-1.

Who's missing

The Kings are short on the wing. Kevin Fiala (lower leg) and Mats Zuccarello (upper body) are both on injured reserve. Fiala practiced Monday, but the team's own report said a return Tuesday is "not something we should plan for or expect." Zuccarello is in his third spell out this season, and the Kings don't plan to rush him. Defenseman Erik Gustafsson missed Monday's practice and is day-to-day.

Nashville's only listed absence is Jonathan Marchessault (lower body, day-to-day). He skated Monday but didn't dress Saturday against St. Louis, and the Preds won anyway.

Without Fiala and Zuccarello, the Kings depend even more on the Panarin-Laferriere-Kempe line for offense. That makes their 62.5% penalty kill even more costly.

How the line has moved

The total is the number that has moved. It opened at 5.5 and now sits at 6 to 6.5, with the under 6.5 priced -125 to -137. The side has barely budged: Los Angeles opened at -148 and is now -137 to -143, with Nashville +114 to +120.

Prediction: No edge

No edge. Our model has this close to a coin flip at very low confidence. The market, without the vig, makes Los Angeles about a 55–56% favorite. Here's how it breaks down:

• Special teams favor Nashville clearly: a 29.8% power play and an 88.5% kill against LA's 62.5% kill.
• Form favors Nashville: four straight wins and 6-2-2 in the last 10, against a Kings team that's 2-5-0 at home.
• Goaltending favors Nashville on the numbers: Saros at .911 against Kuemper at .878. But neither starter is confirmed, and Nashville has a back-to-back.
• Los Angeles has a small edge in shot volume: 27.9 shots per game, against Nashville's 26.0.

The data points toward Nashville more than the price does, but at very low model confidence and with the goalies unknown, there's nothing here we'd headline.

The swing factor is the Predators' crease. Saros on the first night of the back-to-back is a different game than Annunen at .874.

On the total, LA allows 3.47 a game and Nashville scores 3.00, which puts 6.5 about where the numbers land after the move up from 5.5. That's no play on the total either.