Free NHL Picks Today: Los Angeles Kings vs Dallas Stars 1/3/23

The Dallas Stars (23-9-6) and their clutch power play offense travel to take on the Los Angeles Kings (21-13-6), one of the league’s worst penalty killing teams, at Crypto.com Arena on Tuesday. Dallas is coming off a 5-2 win over the Sharks on Saturday, their fourth win in a row.

The Stars committed four penalties in the game, though they held San Jose without a power play goal. Five players found the net for the Stars. Joe Pavelski scored and provided two assists to lead the team in scoring. Jake Oettinger had a great performance with 29 saves (.935%) in the win.

Los Angeles fell 4-2 to the Flyers on Saturday. Adrian Kempe and Phillip Danault both scored once for the Kings. Jonathan Quick only had 19 saves on 22 shots against (.863%) in the loss.

HEAD TO HEAD

The Stars won the first meeting between the teams this season, a 5-2 victory in November. Roope Hintz (2G 1A) and Jason Robertson (1G 2A) each had three points to lead Dallas. Kevin Fiala and Arthur Kaliyev were on the scoresheet for Los Angeles. Scott Wedgewood got the win, saving 30 of 32 shots (.937%).

FACING OFF

Dallas is averaging 3.61 goals per game for the season, third in the NHL, and they are taking on a Kings team that is allowing 3.42 goals a game (24th). Meanwhile, Los Angeles has found the net 3.20 times a game on average, 15th in the league, and the Stars are allowing opponents to score 2.68 goals per game (7th).

The Stars will be looking to add to their second-ranked power play percentage of 28.81% against the Kings, who are the league’s fifth-weakest penalty killing team (71.83%). Los Angeles, meanwhile, has scored on 23.24% of their power play opportunities (13th), which the home team will be aiming to improve on against Dallas’ third-ranked 83.85% penalty killing rate.

TOP PERFORMERS:

With 54 points this season, third-most in the NHL, Robertson is the top skater for the Stars. He is among the league leaders in both goals and assists, finding the net 25 times (4th) and assisting 29 scores for this teammates (8th).

In the net, Oettinger (16-5-3) is Dallas’ top goaltender by goals against average. He has a 2.38 GAA and a .920% save percentage.Fiala leads the Kings in scoring with 37 points. He has 10 goals and 27 assists in 40 games. Quick (8-8-4) is the top goalie for Los Angeles with a goals against average of 3.41. He has a save percentage of .885%.