Los Angeles Kings vs New York Rangers Best Bets and Props

This article is part of our NHL Picks series.

The New York Rangers (28-14-2) make the second stop on a four-game road trip versus the Los Angeles Kings (21-13-8) on Saturday night at Crypto.com Arena in Southern California. Puck drop is scheduled for 10:30 p.m. ET, and the game can be viewed on ESPN+.

The Rangers opened the trip with an ugly 5-1 setback against the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena on Thursday, cashing the Over (5.5). The snapped a modest two-game win streak, including a 5-2 win against the Seattle Kraken in the previous outing.

The Kings had a 5-2 scoring outburst against the Carolina Hurricanes on the road on Monday, but then somebody turned off the offense spigot. Los Angeles got drummed 5-1 on the road against the Dallas Stars on Tuesday in a tough turnaround, and it fell 2-1 against the Nashville Predators on home ice Thursday night.

New York is hoping a visit to Los Angeles will be the elixir to cure their scoring ills. The Blueshirts have posted four consecutive victories in this series, outscoring the Kings 17-8 across the four-game span. The Under cashed in the first meeting this season in a 4-1 Rangers win at Madison Square Garden, and the Under is 5-2 in the past seven in the series.

Jonathan Quick (9-3-2, 2.49 GAA, .912 SV%, 2 SO) is projected to start and face his old team. He was traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets at the NHL trade deadline last season, before being flipped to the Golden Knights as a rental player during the team's Stanley Cup run. He is having a renaissance in Manhattan, and his 2.49 GAA is his lowest since the 2017-18 season in L.A. Quick stopped 25 of the 26 shots he faced against the Kings at MSG in the first meeting.

The Kings are expected to counter with Cam Talbot (14-11-5, 2.43 GAA, .915 SV%, 2 SO). While his overall body of work is pretty strong, he has really had difficulty in the month of January. Talbot was tagged for five goals on 28 shots in Dallas on Tuesday, and he is a dismal 0-4-2 with a 3.84 GAA and .882 SV% in six January outings. His last win came back on Dec. 23 against the Calgary Flames.

With the way Talbot is struggling, look for the Rangers to get the job done on the road, while Quick rides the emotional wave of his return to SoCal.

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• Kings ML (+102 at FanDuel)

As far as the total is concerned, we saw a total of just five goals in the first meeting at MSG back on Dec. 10, and the Under is 5-2 across the past seven battles in this series.

While the Over is on a 5-2 run in the past seven games for the Rangers, the Under cashed in Quick's most recent outing. He should have an extra gear going against his former team in his old stomping grounds, too.

While Talbot has been coughing up goals at an alarming rate lately, the Rangers have scored two or fewer goals in four of the past five games. He should be able to get back on track against the suddenly toothless New York offense.

Let's go low on the total, especially if you can get it at a flat six, but be careful. Go with a half-unit at most, as Talbot has been really giving lately, and that's a concern.

• Under 6 (-120 at Caesars)

As far as the player props are concerned, we're going to keep it pretty simple. Let's look to one player on each side, and we did a little digging to find some solid value plays.

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For the visitors, Mika Zibanejad notched a goal in the first meeting against the Rangers, and he had the team's only marker in the 5-1 whitewashing at Vegas on Thursday night. That goal came on the man advantage, his first power-play goal since Dec. 22. Look for Zibanejad to get the job done against Talbot and the Kings on the man advantage.

• Mika Zibanejad Over 0.5 Power-Play Points (+185 at BetMGM)

For the home side, we're going to go back to Phillip Danault for the second straight game. All we need him to do is notch a point. The veteran pivot notched the only goal against Quick and the Rangers in the first meeting back in December. He was scoreless last time out, snapping a six-game point streak. Danault still has two goals and eight points across the past seven outings.