Tampa Bay at Los Angeles

The Kings' offense has struggled all season, but their defense has been top-notch. LA gives up the second-fewest goals per game in the NHL at 2.6. The Kings nipped the Lightning, 2-1, as a $1.99 rod underdog on Dec. 18. The Kings frustrate the Lightning with their slow tempo and ability to clog the neutral zone. Tampa Bay is also playing without rest after edging the Ducks, 4-3 in overtime, at Anaheim last night. The Kings have the rest advantage. They last were in action on Monday, losing to the Avalanche, 5-2, in Colorado. That score is highly misleading. Colorado scored an empty-net goal with 1:37 left and an even-strength goal with 45 seconds remaining. The Lightning are expected to get back goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy, who last played Dec. 2. Vasilevskiy figures to be rusty. Tampa Bay remains without several key injured defensemen, though. Take the Kings on the puck line.