I am always a bit of a sucker for paying attention to which team is the last to lose and win in a given season in one of the major American sports leagues. The NHL is a couple of weeks into its 2026-27 campaign, and every club has a loss by now, but one is yet to own a victory: The Los Angeles Kings. And we will keep fading them tonight at Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals. Bet $5+ on any of tonight's NHL games to get $200 in bonus bets at DraftKings Sportsbook:
It's a 7 ET puck drop from Capital One Arena. Bettors via DraftKings are agreeing with me in the early going, with 83% of handle and 78% of wagers on Washington at -155. Heavy on Over 5.5 as well.
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Kings vs. Capitals NHL same-game parlay
- Washington money line
- Alt Under 7.5
BetRivers SGP price: -105 (subject to change)
If you were wondering, and I was, the NHL record for longest winless streak to start a season is 15 in a row by the 1943-44 New York Rangers. They lost 11 straight, tied a game, then lost three more before knocking off the visiting Boston Bruins.
So the Kings (0-4-2) have a long way to get there and haven't even tied the franchise record yet, as the 1984-85 club was winless in its first nine. L.A. still made the playoffs that year. This year's club is still priced +100 for extra hockey with No only slightly favored at -125. The updated season points total is 90.5 â remember, 84 regular-season games now. The Kings' preseason points total was 95.5, so the sportsbooks haven't given up on them yet, nor should they. Still too talented of a roster.
The goaltending has been problem No. 1, with the duo of Darcy Kuemper and Anton Forsberg combining for a 4.17 goals-against average that is third-worst in the NHL and an .861 save percentage that is second-to-last. The penalty kill ranks 31st at 61.9%. Perhaps a trade for Winnipeg holdout Connor Hellebuyck?
But the offense needs help too, putting up just 2.00 goals per game (31st) and converting 14.3% of the time on the power play (26th). L.A. scored eight total goals in its first two games and has scored exactly one in the next four. That's hard to do.
Injuries haven't helped, with the likes of Kevin Fiala, Alex Turcotte and Mats Zuccarello all on injured reserve. Coach Peter Laviolette said that Zuccarello is "trending" toward playing tonight, however, after practicing Monday on a line with center Quinton Byfield and Trevor Moore. No one has more than five points, and only three guys have a positive rating (all at plus-1).
"I'm not seeing [the lapses] from our fourth-line type players, I'm seeing it from our top players," All-Star defenseman and team captain Drew Doughty said over the weekend. "That's why we're losing games. Your top players need to be your best players every night and not just have flashes of brilliance. They need to play 60 minutes."
We should note that the Kings started 1-3-2 last season ahead of a long trip as similar to starts tonight, and they still managed to sneak into the playoffs, although they were then swept by Colorado. But I sure don't see any sure-fire wins on this five-game roadie. It likely will be Kuemper tonight, and in two road starts he has allowed 10 goals on 61 shots.
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"I think they're going to have a desperation level," said Caps winger Tom Wilson of the Kings.
Washington will be a popular team to wager on and follow this season simply with it being Ovechkin's last in the league. The 41-year-old all-time goalscoring king has been held to one goal and three assists in eight games, but he is plus-3. The Caps enter on a two-game win streak, both at home. They rallied for a 4-2 victory Saturday vs. New Jersey.
Ovechkin skated in his 347th comeback win to tie Joe Thornton for second-most in NHL history; the only player with more is Patrick Marleau (352). It was also Ovechkin's 467th win on home ice, which passed Brendan Shanahan for the 11th-most in NHL history. He remains one assist shy of tying Nicklas Backstrom (762) for the all-time franchise lead.
Ovi already obviously leads in goals and points, so he is on the verge of becoming only the fourth player born outside North America to lead his franchise in career goals, assists and points, behind Florida's Aleksander Barkov, New Jersey's Patrik Elias and Ottawa's Daniel Alfredsson.
For tonight, Ovechkin is +200 for a goal and +185 for a helper. In 30 career games against the Kings, he has 13 goals and 13 assists. This will mark his final home game against them. It should be Logan Thompson in net and he's 4-2-0 with a 2.69 GAA and .910 SV. Washington swept the 2025-26 season series.
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Los Angeles is nowhere near this bad, but I'm not sure tonight is the night -- although I do think the Kings finally score more than once. Just not too many, please. The model has the Capitals by a full goal, 3.7-2.7. Check out other expert picks in the SportsLine daily newsletter.
