Colorado Avalanche (26-8-3, first in the Central) vs. Los Angeles Kings (20-15-5, second in the Pacific)
Los Angeles; Thursday, 9:30 p.m. EST
LINE: Kings +166, Avalanche -197; over/under is 6
BOTTOM LINE: Nazem Kadri leads Colorado into a matchup with Los Angeles. He currently ranks fifth in the NHL with 51 points, scoring 15 goals and totaling 36 assists.
The Kings are 7-10-4 in conference games. Los Angeles serves 7.7 penalty minutes per game, the fewest in the Western Conference. Brendan Lemieux leads them averaging 2.0.
The Avalanche are 9-3-1 against opponents from the Central. Colorado ranks first in the Western Conference with 35.0 shots per game and is averaging 4.2 goals.
The matchup Thursday is the first meeting of the season for the two teams.
TOP PERFORMERS: Adrian Kempe leads the Kings with 17 goals and has 24 points. Trevor Moore has nine assists over the last 10 games for Los Angeles.
Kadri has 51 total points while scoring 15 goals and totaling 36 assists for the Avalanche. Nathan MacKinnon has six goals over the last 10 games for Colorado.
LAST 10 GAMES: Kings: 6-4-0, averaging 3.4 goals, 5.1 assists, 3.5 penalties and 8.4 penalty minutes while giving up 2.8 goals per game with an .880 save percentage.
Avalanche: 9-0-1, averaging 4.1 goals, 7.2 assists, 4.5 penalties and 10.9 penalty minutes while giving up 2.4 goals per game with a .921 save percentage.
INJURIES: Kings: Carl Grundstrom: out (health protocols), Adrian Kempe: out (covid-19).
Avalanche: Bowen Byram: out (personal), Valeri Nichushkin: out (covid-19), Darren Helm: day to day (lower body), Ryan Murray: day to day (upper body).
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