TLDR: Both of these teams have had a rough October. The Kings went winless through their first 6 games, and the Blackhawks are 3-8-0 and dropped all 3 games of their homestand. Tuesday, October 27 at the United Center, one of them gets a little relief.
Los Angeles finishes an eastern trip with a back-to-back, playing the Rangers the night before this game, while Chicago has a day off at home after a 3-game home losing streak. The Kings recovered from a winless start because of Panarin, Kempe and Kuemper, but they get almost nothing from their depth. Chicago has Bedard back but has scored just 3 goals during the slide and is without defenseman Bowen Byram.
+Bedard has a goal and 2 assists in first 2 games back
−3 goals total during 3-game home losing streak
−Bowen Byram out on the blue line
−Shut out 4-0 by Dallas
Start with the schedule, because it matters most here. Los Angeles plays the New York Rangers on October 26 and then flies to Chicago for a 7:00 PM CT puck drop the next night. That makes it the Kings' second game in 2 nights at the end of an eastern road trip. Chicago's last game was the Florida loss and it has nothing scheduled in between, so the Hawks get a day off at home while the Kings are in the air. The result at Madison Square Garden will tell us a lot about this one: who ends up in net, how much the top line played, and whether the Kings show up in Chicago happy or annoyed.
The Kings' turnaround has been mostly the stars doing the work. According to LA Kings Insider, Artemi Panarin has been their most reliable scorer on the trip, Adrian Kempe has chipped in goals, and Darcy Kuemper stopped all 10 high-danger chances he faced at 5-on-5 in the 3-2 overtime win over the Islanders. That same piece called the depth scoring 'non-existent.' Quinton Byfield was a gametime decision with an upper-body injury, so check his status before puck drop. Then New Jersey held the Kings to 1 goal and pulled away in the 3rd, which is what happens when only 1 line can score.
Chicago is still waiting on a real Connor Bedard bump. The captain missed the first 6 games recovering from offseason shoulder surgery. He had an assist in his first game back, a 5-3 win over Pittsburgh, then scored and set up Artyom Levshunov's overtime winner against Winnipeg. Since then the Hawks have dropped 3 straight: shut out 4-0 by Dallas, beaten 4-1 by Montreal, and edged 3-2 by Florida. All 3 were at the United Center.
The Florida loss hurt the most. Chicago tied it 2-2 in the 2nd period against a short-handed Panthers team, then couldn't beat backup Akira Schmid over the final 20 minutes. As of now, the Hawks have scored 3 goals across their 3-game losing streak. That is the number Bedard is supposed to change.
On the blue line, Chicago is still without Bowen Byram, who is listed out. That puts more minutes on Levshunov and the rest of a young defense corps. Those minutes come against Panarin and Kempe, the 2 Kings forwards who have actually been scoring. Byram's absence shapes how Chicago matches up with LA's top line more than anything else on the injury report.
So the question is fairly simple. Can the Kings' top line and Kuemper carry a road-weary team through one more night, or does a rested Chicago, with Bedard 2 weeks into his return, finally get a game where the offense shows up? Neither team has earned much trust this month. The board opens once the Rangers game is done.
Kings vs. Blackhawks: Polymarket Odds & Prediction (Oct. 27) — Kings Hit Chicago on a Back-to-Back as Bedard's Blackhawks Look for Answers
