Kings vs Ducks

The Kings limp into this one having dropped three straight and five of six, while the Ducks suddenly have two wins in a row after snapping a brutal 0-8-1 slide, but Anaheim’s surge is undercut by injuries that strip away a big chunk of its scoring. Leo Carlsson, who leads the Ducks with 44 points in 44 games, is out for 3–5 weeks, Frank Vatrano remains sidelined with a shoulder injury, and Petr Mrazek is on injured reserve, leaving Anaheim leaning heavily on Lukas Dostal and a thinner forward group; by contrast, Los Angeles’ core of Drew Doughty, Adrian Kempe, Kevin Fiala and Anze Kopitar is intact per the current ESPN rosters, even if their recent results have been underwhelming. Historically, Kempe and Fiala have been major problems for Anaheim — Kempe has produced multiple big nights against the Ducks at Honda Center and Fiala owns strong career goal numbers versus this opponent — while on the other side Carlsson and Mason McTavish have been Anaheim’s most dangerous weapons in this matchup, and one of those is unavailable tonight. With both teams hovering around the middle of the Western Conference pack near the season’s midpoint, this is effectively a four-point swing game, and the Kings’ top-5 defensive profile in goals allowed and shot suppression, combined with their healthier, more experienced spine, makes the short road underdog price of +100 more attractive than laying -118 on a shorthanded Ducks side. I’m grading Kings moneyline at +100 as a B pick: the recent form risk is real, but the combination of matchup edges and price gives enough value to back Los Angeles to grind out a response win. Odds and availability are subject to change. This bet was made at 17/01/2026 10:24

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