The Washington Capitals (+165), one of the league’s top penalty killing teams, travel to face the Tampa Bay Lightning (-195) and their opportunistic power play offense at Amalie Arena on Thursday.
The total is 6 (O: -120, U: +100)Washington (34-32-9) is playing on back-to-back days after suffering a 2-1 shootout loss against the Islanders yesterday.
The Capitals committed only two penalties in the game, holding New York without a power play goal. Conor Sheary scored the only goal for the Capitals. Darcy Kuemper saved an impressive 28 of 29 shots (.965%) in the loss.
Tampa Bay (43-26-6) beat the Hurricanes 4-0 on Tuesday. Brayden Point scored twice to lead the Lightning. Andrei Vasilevskiy had a dominant performance with 31 saves to earn his third shutout of the season.
HEAD TO HEAD
The teams have split their two meetings this season, the most recent of which was a 6-3 victory for the Lightning in November. Mikhail Sergachev led Tampa Bay with four points (2G 2A). Garnet Hathaway, Lars Eller, and Sheary were on the scoresheet for Washington. Vasilevskiy got the win despite allowing three goals on 22 shots (.863%).
FACING OFF
Washington is averaging 3.13 goals per game for the season, 19th in the NHL, and they are taking on a Lightning team that is allowing 3.04 goals a game (13th). Meanwhile, Tampa Bay has found the net 3.39 times a game on average, 10th in the league, and the Capitals are allowing opponents to score 3.05 goals per game (14th).
Don’t be surprised to see multiple power play opportunities for the Capitals, as the Lightning have been penalized 4.39 times a game, fourth-most in the NHL, for an average of 11.64 minutes (second-highest). The visitors are averaging 3.52 penalties (22nd) and 8.29 penalty minutes a game (20th).
The Lightning’s fifth-ranked power play offense (24.90%) will be put to the test against the Capitals, who are the league’s fifth-best penalty killing team (83.01%). Washington, meanwhile, has scored on 21.93% of their power play opportunities (11th), which the visiting team will be aiming to add to against Tampa Bay’s 15th-ranked 79.57% penalty killing rate.
TOP PERFORMERS:
With 72 points this season, Alex Ovechkin is the top skater for the Capitals. He is among the league leaders with 42 goals (7th) and has added 30 assists. In the net, Kuemper (21-23-6) is Washington’s top goaltender by goals against average.
He has a 2.72 GAA and a .912% save percentage.Nikita Kucherov leads the Lightning in scoring with 104 points (3rd in the league). He has 28 goals and 76 assists (2nd) in 75 games. Vasilevskiy (32-20-4) is the top goalie for Tampa Bay with a goals against average of 2.64. He has a save percentage of .915%.
HOME AND AWAY
Washington has dropped three straight away from Capital One Arena this season. Tampa Bay is 25-7-5 at Amalie Arena this season. Meanwhile, the Capitals are 2-7 without a day off and 1-4 playing with a rest disadvantage. The Lightning are 4-1 with a rest advantage.
SportsTips’ NHL Pick:
Tampa Bay Lightning (-210)
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*Odds correct at time of publication, courtesy of BetMGM.
