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The Washington Capitals (33-10-5) take on the Vancouver Canucks (20-17-10) Saturday. Puck drop from Rogers Arena is set for 10 p.m. ET (ESPN+). Let’s analyze BetMGM Sportsbook’s NHL odds around the Capitals vs. Canucks odds and make our expert NHL picks and predictions.
Season series: Capitals lead 1-0 after 2-1 OT winner at home Jan. 8
The Capitals have won 6 straight games. Guess how many goals they allowed in those 6 games? Four. The goalie tandem of Logan Thompson and Charlie Lindgren has been off the charts. That has given their forwards the confidence to play in front of them. The latest W was a 3-0 win at the Seattle Kraken Thursday. LW Alex Ovechkin added an empty-netter, his 22nd of the season, to pull within 20 of ‘The Great One’ on the all-time goals list.
The Canucks are a mess. Last year’s feel-good story has become a nightmare with rumored feuding between C Elias Pettersson and C J.T. Miller, who is believed to be on the trade block. Pettersson has just 30 points on the year after having 102 and 89 the last 2 years. Vancouver has lost 4 of 5 with the latest being a 6-2 thrashing at the Edmonton Oilers Thursday. RW Brock Boeser scored his 16th goal in that one.
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Capitals at Canucks odds
Provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 2:30 p.m. ET.
- Moneyline (ML): Capitals -125 (bet $125 to win $100) | Canucks +105 (bet $100 to win $105)
- Puck line (PL)/Against the spread (ATS): Capitals -1.5 (+195) | Canucks +1.5 (-235)
- Over/Under (O/U): 5.5 (O: +105 | U: -125)
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Capitals at Canucks projected goalies
Logan Thompson (22-2-3, 2.09 GAA, .925 SV%, 2 SO) vs. Thatcher Demko (3-5-3, 3.47 GAA, .867 SV%)
Thompson has won 10 straight starts. He hasn’t lost a game he started since Dec. 17. He allowed 2 goals in his last start Tuesday on 32 shots, and that doubled the amount of goals he surrendered in his 3 previous starts combined. He was between the pipes in the 2-1 OT winner against Vancouver Jan. 8, brushing aside 30 of 31.
Demko has been awful this season after missing time with a lower-body injury. He has lost 4 of his last 5 starts, and he allowed 6 goals on 34 shots to Edmonton Thursday. He beat the Caps in OT 3-2 last year, stopping 31 of 33, but he’s not playing on that plain this year.
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Capitals at Canucks picks and predictions
Prediction
Capitals 4, Canucks 2
Moneyline
I tried to see the other side of the coin here with the Caps on their third leg of a road trip nearly 3,000 miles from home. But Demko will at least allow 2, probably more, and I don’t see Vancouver getting 3 by Thompson.
Take the chalk with the CAPITALS -125.
Puck line/Against the spread
There’s not enough meat on this spread, and Ovi’s anytime goal is at +125, which isn’t beefy enough for me when sharp markets have it at +160.
PASS.
Over/Under
The plus-money on this Over has me tantalized like I’m seeing a 10 on a deserted island. Both teams have been Under teams because the Caps don’t allow goals, and Vancouver has scored 1 or fewer in half of its last 10. The Caps have 16 empty-net goals this season, and that is really where they feed Ovi. Can the Canucks score 2 goals at home to push this OVER 5.5 (+105)? I say yes.
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