Stars vs Kings

The Dallas Stars roll into Crypto.com Arena trying to steady themselves after a chaotic road swing, but their overall profile still looks stronger than a Los Angeles Kings team missing captain Anze Kopitar and winger Joel Armia, both on the shelf with recent lower- and upper-body injuries that thin out LA’s matchup-center depth. Dallas has already hit the 45-game mark and sits near the top of the Central with a +28 goal differential (157 goals for, 129 against), driven by a loaded forward group of Jason Robertson, Mikko Rantanen, Roope Hintz and Jamie Benn that is fully represented on the current ESPN roster, while the Kings hover around break-even with 119 goals for and 125 against and a middling home record of 7-9-5 that has kept them on the playoff bubble rather than in a secure slot. Even with their recent 1-4 stretch snapped by a 4-1 win in Washington before blowing a lead in San Jose, the Stars still grade out as the better five-on-five and special-teams side, boasting a power play north of 29% versus a Kings unit around 16%, and they’ve controlled the recent head-to-head with a 4-1 win on December 15 and a 6-2 home rout last March, with Robertson and Rantanen repeatedly on the scoresheet. Adrian Kempe has hurt Dallas before, including an overtime winner in October, and this is the back half of a tough road run for the Stars, but with Jake Oettinger likely back in net after Casey DeSmith handled the Sharks loss and with Dallas’ offense historically giving LA’s goaltending fits, I’m willing to lay the short number and back the deeper, healthier favorite at -125 on the moneyline. Grade: A-. Odds and availability are subject to change. This bet was made at 12/01/2026 09:46 ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025%E2%80%9326_Dallas_Stars_season?utm_source=openai))

With Dallas averaging 3.49 goals per game and allowing 2.87, and Los Angeles scoring 2.70 while conceding 2.84, the baseline expectation for this matchup is comfortably above the 5.5 total, and recent form for both sides points to more volatility than shutdown hockey. The Stars’ penalty kill has sprung a major leak, giving up four power-play goals in the overtime loss at San Jose, and that’s a dangerous combo against a Kings group whose power play has clicked at 20% over its last ten and still features Kevin Fiala and Adrian Kempe as primary shooters despite Kopitar’s absence. Dallas’ last three outings (6-3 loss at Carolina, 4-1 win in Washington, 5-4 OT loss in San Jose) have all reached at least six total goals, and the recent head-to-head pattern with LA includes scorelines like 6-2 and 4-1 in favor of the Stars plus a 3-2 overtime game where chances piled up both ways. Books have shaded this number heavily toward the Over at 5.5 with around -130 juice, reflecting both teams’ underlying chance generation and the reality that Dallas’ deep, ESPN-confirmed forward core plus LA’s opportunistic top six can punish even small lapses, particularly with the Stars on the second leg of a road back-to-back that can sap defensive structure far more than it slows finishing talent. I still have some respect for Jake Oettinger and Darcy Kuemper (or Anton Forsberg) keeping this from blowing up into a track meet, and Kopitar’s injury does trim some Kings playmaking, so I land on Over 5.5 at -130 as a solid but not elite value, worthy of a B grade. Odds and availability are subject to change. This bet was made at 12/01/2026 09:46 ([oddspedia.com](https://oddspedia.com/us/ice-hockey/los-angeles-kings-dallas-stars-260052?utm_source=openai))

Given how closely these teams have played overall—each winning three of the last six meetings and projection models pricing the game nearly as a coin flip—the Kings catching +1.5 on home ice shapes up as the safer side of the puckline, even if the hefty -255 price tag caps the value. Dallas comes in off a draining overtime loss in San Jose as part of an 11-game January road slate, and while their superior depth and elite scorers make them a rightful favorite, that schedule spot plus their occasional tendency to get into penalty trouble raises the likelihood of a one-goal game, especially with Los Angeles leaning hard on Adrian Kempe, Kevin Fiala, and a deep defense led by Drew Doughty and Mikey Anderson from their current roster to grind out points while Kopitar and Armia recuperate. The Kings’ last four games—two tight wins over Minnesota and Edmonton, an overtime loss to San Jose, and a blowout defeat in Winnipeg—underline that their outcomes skew toward close, low-margin contests when the goaltending holds, and Darcy Kuemper and Anton Forsberg have generally provided league-average or better play this season. Combine that with the fact that Dallas is far more concerned with banking two points to protect its strong Central Division position than with style points, and protecting against the very real risk of a Stars one-goal road win makes LA +1.5 the preferred side of the puckline, albeit at a steep price that limits upside and keeps this in B- territory rather than higher. Odds and availability are subject to change. This bet was made at 12/01/2026 09:46 ([scoresandstats.com](https://www.scoresandstats.com/previews/hockey/nhl/los-angeles-kings-vs-dallas-stars-71314/?utm_source=openai))