Despite COVID-19 continuing to wreak havoc on the NHL schedule, we are still lucky to have one game on today that isn’t postponed. We are loving the action throughout this impressive NHL season so far. As we move towards the mid way point in the season, each division’s ladder is starting to take shape. Every single win or loss can have a significant impact on where each team will finish at the end of the season, so it is important that you don’t miss any of the action!
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Look below to find our free NHL picks, as we preview the one game on today’s schedule.
Vancouver Canucks @ Washington Capitals – 2.00PM ET
The road trip continues on for the Vancouver Canucks, who travel to Washington to take on the Capitals for the only NHL game on Sunday. The Canucks are playing on back-to-back nights, and last time out they lost to the Hurricanes, 1-4. The Capitals are also playing on back-to-back nights, but they won their game last time out, 2-0, against the Islanders.
Denis Kirilov
The Vancouver Canucks will try to escape the bad position they have put themselves into following three straight losses against top opponents in the NHL. Their fantastic 8-1 run has been snapped by the Florida Panthers who cruised past them for the final score, 2-5. Then, the Canucks took losses against the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Carolina Hurricanes. This losing streak kept them in 13th place in the Western Conference with 35 points out of 37 games. The Canadian team is getting far away from the 4th spot in the Pacific Division held by the San Jose Sharks. They will do their best to keep themselves in a Playoffs contention for as long as possible this season.
Bo Horvat scores the lone goal as the #Canucks fall in the morning matchup against the Hurricanes.@BudweiserCanada HIGHLIGHTS | https://t.co/H8yFOQXn54 pic.twitter.com/9FsNOn11r5
— Vancouver #Canucks (@Canucks) January 15, 2022
The Washington Capitals were off to an odd start to 2022. They took off with four straight losses before snapping that streak with a victory over the New York Islanders. The team, however, looks a bit different and a bit worn out as they will surely have to give Alexander Ovechkin some rest either in January or in February. Their early dominance in the NHL this season helped them keep their spot into the top 6 of the Eastern Conference. The team has accumulated a total of 51 points for 38 matches and they are almost certain for the 2022 NHL Playoffs, since the Metropolitan Division has been quite underperforming this season. However, there is still a lot of time until this part of the campaign and plenty of things might happen until then. First of all, they will try to prolong the Canucks’ losing streak and I think this will be the case on Sunday.
Denis’ NHL Pick: Moneyline 3-Way – Washington Capitals (-120)
Tony Battalio
The Vancouver Canucks come into this game with a record of 16-18-3. It will be the second game of a back to back for them and the fourth game of a five game road trip that has not gone well for them yet. In their game last night they were defeated by the Carolina Hurricanes by a score of 1-4. It was Vancouver’s third straight loss as they have had a rough time on this current Southeastern road trip. They will be looking for a bounce back win in this one before heading to Nashville for the finale of their five game road trip.
The Washington Capitals are also coming off of a back to back of their own as they get ready to play Vancouver in this one. The difference is that Washington won their game last night by defeating the New York Islanders, 2-0, on the road. Now they come into this game with a record of 21-8-9 through their first 38 games on the season. As for the result of this one, I have the Washington Capitals picking up another win, this time over Vancouver at home.
Tony’s NHL Pick: Washington Capitals (-194)
Michael Lantz
After suffering four straight losses, the Washington Capitals broke their skid last night, beating the New York Islanders 2-0. In the Metropolitan Division, the Caps losing four in a row was not ideal. But, they still sit in third place just three points out of the New York Rangers for the top spot. They’ll look to continue their momentum on Sunday against a struggling Vancouver Canucks team.
V❗️V❗️ pic.twitter.com/ZIYtFZepmx
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) January 15, 2022
Just a little over a month ago, Vancouver looked like a new team when they replaced Travis Green with Bruce Boudreau as head coach. Unfortunately they’ve slipped back into their old ways, as they’ve lost their last three games. It was a tough stretch of games for them as they faced the Panthers, Lightning, and Hurricanes. Things won’t get any easier for them as they face a very good Washington Capitals team. With this one being in DC and the Capitals being back in the winning mindset, I expect them to take care of the Canucks with ease.
Michael’s NHL Pick: Washington Capitals -1.5 (+136)
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*Odds and spreads correct at time of writing, courtesy of FanDuel.
