These rivals held serve at home last season with the Kings winning the one game played in Los Angeles and the Avalanche winning both games played in Denver. No. 1 Kings netminder Darcy Kuemper is in net tonight but No. 1 Avs goalie Mackenzie Blackwood is a bit banged up, so it's No. 2 Scott Wedgewood. The one main injury question for LA was Alex Laferriere, but he's good to go. The Kings had just 10 home losses (regulation + OT) last year. I lean push at -1 but maybe we get an empty-netter. Then we fade L.A. in Las Vegas tomorrow ...

We can excuse the Kings if thinking about how they blew that playoff series to the Oilers, and might have a hard time here in October either getting last April...or next April...out of their minds for a while. The hangover from that series loss is hard to quantify and could linger at the start of the new season. Meanwhile, the Avs remain eminently capable of inflicting damage, with Gabriel Landeskog now finally back in the lineup and adding another top-six winger to the abundance of riches at Jared Bednar's disposal, and the situation in goal solidified greatly last season when adding Mackenzie Blackwood and Scott Wedgewood. Play Avs on the Puck Line.

The Colorado Avalanche have significantly outperformed the LA Kings in season openers over the last five years, posting an impressive 4-1 record compared to the Kings' 2-3 record. One of those wins was against the Kings at Crypto in 2023. Scott Wedgewood is 4-0 with a 1.00 GAA and .966 save percentage vs. LA over the last three years. Darcy Keumper is 1-2 with a 3.51 GAA and .871 save percentage vs. Colorado over that same time frame. The Avalanche's speed and transition game should create problems for an aging Kings roster. I like fading teams with the best home record (31-6-4) last season if they start the new season at home.