The Los Angeles Kings are going to be wrapping up their seven game road trip on Sunday afternoon against the Washington Capitals. This is probably the toughest game of the entire road trip because the Capitals are the best team they have played with a record of 22-8-2 and this will be the third game in four days after playing the Flyers on Thursday and Predators on Saturday.
While the Capitals won't have Alexander Ovechkin, who is working his way back from a broken leg, they have plenty of players to worry about starting with Dylan Strome. He currently is leading the Capitals in points with 38 while Connor McMichael is leading them in goals with 16.
This will also be a revenge game for Pierre-Luc Dubois, who had a disasterous season last year with the Kings. They would trade with the Winnipeg Jets and had career low totals in goals and assists in seasons he played 80+ games. General manager Rob Blake decided to cut his losses and traded Dubois to the Capitals as part of the trade that brought Darcy Kuemper to Los Angeles.
The Kings are unlikely to have Kuemper play against his former team as he has played four straight games, and six of the last seven, so it should be David Rittich's game in net.
Final Score Prediction: Washington Capitals 3, Los Angeles Kings 2
I think the Los Angeles Kings are going to be able to keep this close for most of the game. However, a long road trip can take a toll on the players and fans started to see that against the Nashville Predators.
They were out-played in the first two periods against the Predators and if they do that against the Capitals, they probably won't be able to make a third period comeback. This game probably is a little more back and forth but Capitals are more rested and that should be enough to take this game.