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Tag Archives: Washington Capitals
NHL Eastern Conference Favourites Struggle Early
In the Eastern Conference the perennial contenders are struggling to get to the top but it is always a close battle between the top teams in this divisions.
Opening the season as the 10-1 second favourite to win the Stanley Cup the Washington Capitals they currently are second in their division between a surprising Florida Panthers team. Since opening day the Capitals odds have actually gone down and currently sit at 6-1.
Starting their season as a long shot at 125-1 the Florida Panthers’ odds remain unchanged despite leading their division. The Panthers’ record places them as the 12th to 13th best team in the NHL and leading the division they are fifth best in the Eastern Conference at the time of this writing.
One of the biggest movers in the futures department the Buffalo Sabres opened up the season as a 30-1 shot to win the Stanley Cup but now they have a 10 to 1 shot to hoist the Cup this season. At the moment the Sabres are not in the NHL playoffs but there is plenty of action on this team early.
Although they lead the Eastern Conference in points the New York Rangers are getting no love from the books. Opening as a 30-1 long shot, they remain 30-1 in the season. Looks like doubts linger in the Big Apple.
Since the season began the Ottawa Senators’ odds have skyrocketed. Opening at a healthy 65-1 shot to capture Lord Stanley’s Cup their odds have risen to 150-1, a move that just makes little sense.
New York Islanders visit Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals
The New York Islanders will head to Washington to take on the Capitals this weekend. The Capitals are happy to be home as they have gone 16-5-5 while playing at home this season. The Islanders really struggle while playing on the road, winning just 6 of their 23 games on the road this season. They are 6-14-3 overall on the road this season.
NHL Betting Odds are not yet available.
The Capitals will definitely be the heavy favorites in this game. The Islanders are simply not very good offensively or defensively and they will struggle against the Capitals. The Islanders are 28th in the NHL in goals per game and they are 29th in the league in goals against per game.
The Capitals rely heavily on their defense. They have a great penalty kill percentage that helps them stay in games. They are currently 5th in the NHL at 85.1 percent. The Islanders will really struggle to score against this team as they are so good even while playing a man down.
The Rangers rely heavily upon John Tavares. The Capitals will certainly do all they can to keep him from making a big impact in this game. If the Capitals eliminate him the Islanders will lose a lot of their scoring power.
The Islanders will focus on keep in Ovechkin out of this game. He is the best player that the Capitals have. While he is having an poor season, if he gets going then the Islanders will have no chance to win in this game.
Washington Capitals Powered To 5-1 Win Over New Jersey
In the second period Tuesday, John Carlson, Jason Chimera and Jay Beagle powered the Washington Capitals to a 5-1 win over New Jersey.
To give the Capitals a 1-0 lead, Andrew Gordon scored his first NHL goal and Washington blew it open with three more in the middle period. Michal Neuvirth made 35 saves and the Capitals posted their second straight win following an eight-game-losing skid. In Washington’s win, Mike Knuble also scored.
For the Devils, who fell to 1-8-0 in December, Patrik Elias scored and Brodeur allowed five goals on 28 shots. Against future Hall-of-Famer Martin Brodeur (22 saves, 27 shots), Gordon recorded his first NHL goal by driving the net hard and with the help of teammate Marcus Johansson. At 16:41 of the first period, Washington scored their first goal.
Gordon said that, for him to fist pump or anything he did not have any speed to go to the corner and therefore he stood there and enjoyed that moment where he figured that everyone was looking at me for once instead of Ovi. He added that the moment was special for him and he probably will mull over it in his head all night.
In the second period when Patrik Elias shot at 4:56, which beat Washington goalie Michal Neuvirth for a power-play tally, New Jersey tied it early in the second period, although it did not take long for the Caps to respond. At the 10:00 mark of the second, Beagle banged home a stuff attempt by David Steckel.
Just as David Steckel began to pass behind the cage, he took it below the goal line and sent it to the front of the net. To make it 2-1, Beagle stuffed the shot past Brodeur. Despite having a defender draped across Jason Chimera’s shoulders, his effort to finish on that breakaway made it 3-1 and counted as the left wing’s 200th career NHL point. He went the past 14 contests without one.
John Carlson followed up on a play that looked to be a scoring chance for Alex Ovechkin and he made it 4-1, until New Jersey defenseman Colin White poked the puck off his stick. With a plus-4 rating, Carlson led the Capitals and played a second-most 23:42 (behind only Mike Green’s 25:45). Knuble capped the scoring with a deflection goal, with nearly eight minutes to go in the third period. From the top of the crease, Knuble redirected Tom Poti’s shot from the right side to home.
Tagged John Carlson, New Jersey, NHL goal, Washington Capitals
Edmonton Oilers Clash With Tampa Bay Lightning On Friday
On Friday night the Edmonton Oilers will be back in action as they host the Tampa Bay Lightning in a game at Rexall Place. Game time is at 9pm ET and this game is the only time these two teams will meet this season with Edmonton winning their only match-up from last season, almost a year ago to the day.
A full 6 points behind the Washington Capitals, Tampa Bay currently sit 2nd in the Southeast division. One peculiarity with the Lightning is that despite being one of the stronger teams in their division, they are just -12 in terms of goal differential.
With Simon Gagne, Vincent Lecavalier and Steve Downie among those missing games, the Lightning (15-10-3) have dealt with their share of injuries during the early part of this season.
By going just 4-6-2 from Rexall Place so far this season, the Lightning, however, have not been that bad of a road team this season as they have gone 8-8-1 as visitors so far while Edmonton have had significant home struggles on the year. Without Ales Hemsky or Shawn Horcoff, most will be writing the Oilers off for quite some time now but at least the young talent in Edmonton will be showcased more in upcoming games.
The Oilers, however, lost Captain Shawn Horcoff to a right knee injury. Horcoff, who has seven goals and eight assists in 24 games, is expected to miss up to eight weeks. Edmonton (10-12-5) also will likely not have forward Ales Hemsky (groin) for at least another month.
At The Verizon Center –Philadelphia Flyers Vs. Washington Capitals
On Saturday at the Verizon Center (7 pm ET, COMCAST, CSN), the Philadelphia Flyers and the Washington Capitals meet for the second time this season.
With the Flyers at 12-5-2 and the Capitals with a 14-4-1 record, both teams are near the top of the NHL Eastern Conference standings. The Flyers are favorites in hockey betting odds.
With the Capitals the highest scoring, averaging 3.68 goals per game, and the Flyers not far back at 3.32 GPG, both teams are among the highest scoring in the league.
The Flyers have allowed the third fewest goals in the league at 2.2 per game as Philadelphia is also among the league leaders on defense.
The Flyers are without forwards Dan Carcillo (Out Indefinitely, knee injury), Ian Laperriere (Out Indefinitely, concussion), goalie Michael Leighton (Out Indefinitely, back injury), and defensemen Matt Walker (Out Indefinitely, hip injury) on the injury front.
Capitals’ defenseman goalie Semyon Varlamov is Out Indefinitely (groin injury) and Tom Poti is Day-to-Day (groin injury).
In the last 10 meetings head-to-head Washington is 6-2-0-2 and the over/under is 4-4-2. When the Capitals edged the Flyers 3-2 and cashed as a -190 moneyline favorite, the teams last squared off on Nov. 7. Under the over/under total of 5.5 what the score stayed.