Coyotes looking to snap Kings' win streak

Tonight there will be two games played in the NHL. The Los Angeles Kings will face off against the Arizona Coyotes at Gila River Arena in a Pacific Division showdown. Will Arizona be able to snap the Kings' win streak?

The Coyotes shut out Calgary

The Arizona Coyotes are one of the big surprises during the early season of the NHL. After 21 games played they're standing second in the Pacific Division with 26 points. Their 12-7-2 record is impressive and after not qualifying for the Stanley Cup playoffs for many years now, it has to happen this season. The last time they reached the playoffs was in 2011-12, when they were still based in Phoenix.

Last Saturday the Coyotes shut out the Calgary Flames during a 3-0 win. Darcy Kuemper excelled with 35 saves, the goalie is having a great season with a save percentage of .937 save and a and a goals against average of 1.85. It's the strong defense of the Coyotes that stands out, because the team is tied for first in goals allowed with 2.33.

First three-game winning streak of the season

The Los Angeles Kings are standing last in the Pacific Division with seventeen points out of twenty games. They picked up some better results in their own barn recently. Los Angeles won their last four games at Staples Center. Last Saturday they booked a surprising win against the Vegas Golden Knights. The Kings led twice by two goals, but lost both leads as Vegas rallied to tie. In the end, it was Jeff Carter who scored the winner in his 1,000th career NHL game.

Los Angeles performs a lot less well during away games. Their last win outside Staples Center was on October 22, when they defeated the Winnipeg Jets (2-3). Jonathan Quick still has a shaky 3.74 GAA and .878 save percentage, but he has been on a bit of a roll lately and you can bet he wants to keep the momentum going after a poor start during the early season.

Arizona counts on Raantta

I expected Kuemper, but Anti Raantta starts in goal tonight against the Los Angeles Kings. He has a reasonable save percentage of .912 and a 3.07 GAA. Los Angeles will go with Jack Campbell instead of Jonathan Quick. Arizona has the edge on the defense end and that will make the difference in my eyes, because neither team is an offensive powerhouse. Normally this would be a low-scoring affair, but with both teams starting their backup goalies, it could be a goal fest too. I'm counting on a victory for Arizona, partly because of the bad away record of Los Angeles.