Los Angeles Kings at Buffalo SabresDec 20, 2026

Time TBDSunday, Dec 20, 2026

away

Los Angeles KingsLAK

at

home

Buffalo SabresBUF

Preview

Probable goalies, start odds, schedule edge and each team's lines from its last game.

Schedule Edge

Edge: BUF +11.8 pts

LAKaway−11.7 pts

Back-to-back · 472 km travel

B2B vs rested BUF −9.3 pts
Backup likely (59%) −2.4 pts

BUFhome+11.8 pts

1 day rest

LAK on a B2B +9.3 pts
LAK backup likely (59%) +2.5 pts

BUF has the schedule edge (+11.8 pts net win probability): lak on a b2b, lak backup likely (59%), b2b vs rested buf, backup likely (59%).

· Every game this week →

Los Angeles Kings

Goalie: Starter not announced
Start probability: Anton Forsberg59%
Darcy Kuemper41%
Schedule: Second of a back-to-back
Last game: L 4–8 at COL · Sep 30

L1Kempe – Panarin – Byfield
11:56
L2Zuccarello – Turcotte – Laferriere
10:27
L3Haula – Laughton – Moore
7:55
L4Armia – Lee – Helenius
6:17
D1Ceci – Anderson
12:13
D2Doughty – Dumoulin
11:38
D3Edmundson – Clarke
10:43
PP1Zuccarello – Kempe – Panarin – Byfield – Clarke
4:58

Projected LAK lines →·LAK goalies →·Goalie start planner →

Buffalo Sabres

Goalie: Starter not announced
Start probability: Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen57%
Alex Lyon25%
Colten Ellis18%
Schedule: Rested
Last game: L 3–6 at CBJ · Oct 1

L1Quinn – Ostlund – Benson
11:13
L2Thompson – Norris – Doan
10:19
L3McLeod – Krebs – Helenius
10:05
L4Carrick – Malenstyn – Kulich
6:00
D1Samuelsson – Dahlin
13:10
D2Crevier – Power
10:21
D3Grzelcyk – Metsa
8:13
PP1Thompson – Dahlin – Quinn – Doan – Benson
4:22

Projected BUF lines →·BUF goalies →·Goalie start planner →

Game day: all games on Dec 20.

More

Methodology

Shot locations come from the NHL play-by-play, normalised so each shooter attacks the same way, then flipped so the home team attacks right. On-ice stats and lines come from the shift charts: a unit is the exact set of skaters sharing the ice, and CF% is the share of all shot attempts while they were out. Head-to-head cells are 5v5 time against each opponent. Expected goals and the Pressure Index appear as their models are released.