Kings Open Home Slate vs. Panthers as Underdogs Tuesday
The Kings host the Panthers Tuesday night at crypto.com Arena, and Vegas isn't buying the home team.
Alright, pull up a lawn chair, grab something cold out of the cooler, let's talk Kings hockey. Tuesday, October 6th, 10:00 PM ET, crypto.com Arena, ESPN has the call. This is the kind of night where I tell the kids homework can wait twenty minutes (okay, the whole third period, don't tell their mother).
The Kings sit 0-1-0 to start the year and 7th in the Pacific — not exactly the launch we were hoping for, but it's one game, people, one game. Calm down. The Panthers roll in 1-0-1 overall and 1-0-1 on the road, and this is the first meeting of the season series, so nobody's got a read on anybody yet.
Here's the thing that's got me nervous, and I'll say it plain: the injury list is LONG on both sides. The Kings are without defensemen Otto Salin and Jakub Dvorak, center Jan Jenik, and winger Kevin Fiala, who's recovering from lower leg surgery — that's four regulars out before puck drop. Florida's banged up too — Aleksander Barkov and Brad Marchand are both on injured reserve, plus MacKenzie Entwistle and Jonah Gadjovich, with Gustav Forsling day-to-day. So if you're looking for a silver lining in those L.A. traffic-jam injury reports, it's that the Panthers aren't walking in at full strength either.
Production-wise, it's early — we're talking a handful of games league-wide — but Joel Armia leads the Kings with 1 goal so far, and Alex Laferriere leads the club with 2 assists and 2 points. On the Florida side, Eetu Luostarinen's been the one finding the back of the net, with 2 goals and 2 points, and Dmitry Kulikov's picked up an assist.
Form-wise, neither club is exactly rolling. The Kings dropped their last two shown here — 4-2 to Vegas and 6-3 to Utah — before a two-game run against Anaheim (W 2-1, then W 6-2), and then an 8-4 beatdown up in Colorado. That's a rollercoaster, Big Sal's stomach can't handle it. The Panthers have been living in extra hockey lately: an SO loss at Carolina, a win at Tampa, an SO loss to Tampa at home, an OT win at Carolina, and an OT loss at San Jose. Four of their last five needed overtime or a shootout. Buckle up if that trend holds Tuesday.
DraftKings has the Panthers favored at -125, with the over/under sitting at 5.5. So Vegas thinks we're the underdog in our own building. I don't love hearing that, but this team can scrap — they beat Anaheim twice in that stretch above, remember.
Our take: With both teams missing key pieces and the Panthers favored on the road, I'm not making bold promises. But home ice at crypto.com, a loud building, and a goal differential that could go either way — I think this one's close, maybe even extra-hockey close given how Florida's been trending. Give me the Kings to make it a game, win or lose.
