Free NHL Picks Today: Anaheim Ducks vs Los Angeles Kings 2/17/23

The Los Angeles Kings (30-18-7), one of the NHL’s top power play offenses, head to take on the Anaheim Ducks (17-32-6) and their weak penalty killing defense at Honda Center on Friday.

Los Angeles is coming off a 5-2 win over the Sabres on Monday. The Kings committed six penalties in the game, conceding one power play goal.

Five players found the net for the Kings. Viktor Arvidsson scored and provided two assists to share the scoring lead with Phillip Danault, who had three assists.

Pheonix Copley had a great performance with 27 saves (.931%) in the win. Anaheim lost for the third game in a row, falling 7-3 to the Sabres on Wednesday. Cam Fowler scored twice to lead the Ducks. Lukas Dostal saved only 37 of 44 shots against (.840%) in the loss.

HEAD TO HEAD

The Kings won the first meeting between the teams this season, a 4-1 victory in December, their fourth straight win against Anaheim. Adrian Kempe led Los Angeles with two points (0G 2A). Frank Vatrano scored Anaheim’s only goal. Copley got the win, saving 24 of 25 shots (.960%).

FACING OFF

Los Angeles is averaging 3.27 goals per game for the season, 13th in the NHL, and they are taking on a Ducks team that is allowing 4.13 goals a game (32nd).

Meanwhile, Anaheim has found the net 2.45 times a game on average, 31st in the league, and the Kings are allowing opponents to score 3.35 goals per game (22nd).

Look for several power play opportunities for the Kings, as the Ducks have been penalized 4.58 times a game, third-most in the NHL, for an average of 11.71 minutes (fourth-highest).

The visitors are averaging 4.00 penalties (12th) and 8.85 penalty minutes a game (16th). The Kings will be seeking to add to their fourth-ranked power play percentage of 25.13% against the Ducks, who are the league’s fifth-weakest penalty killing team (73.96%).

Anaheim, meanwhile, has scored on just 15.09% of their power play opportunities (32nd), which the home team will be aiming to improve on against Los Angeles’ 26th-ranked 75.13% penalty killing rate.

TOP PERFORMERS:

With 55 points this season, Kevin Fiala is the top skater for the Kings. He has 18 goals and 37 assists in 55 games. In the net, Copley (17-3-1) is Los Angeles’ top goaltender by goals against average. He has a 2.74 GAA and a .903% save percentage.

Jonathan Quick (8-12-4) leads the Kings in games played in goal. He has a GAA of 3.41 and a save percentage of .881%.

Trevor Zegras and Troy Terry lead the Ducks in scoring with 46 and 42 points, respectively. Zegras has 19 goals and 27 assists in 55 games, while Terry has 13 goals and 29 assists in 51 games.

Anthony Stolarz (5-6-0) has the best goals against average for Anaheim at 3.73. He has a save percentage of .897%. John Gibson (10-22-5) has played the most games in net for the Ducks this season. He has a 4.04 GAA and a .897% save percentage.