The Ducks look end losing ways against a Capitals team missing their superstar and captain Alex Ovechkin
Capital One Centre plays host to two teams desperate for a win. The hometown Capitals are 4-6-2 in their last 12 games with the Ducks being no better with two wins in their last nine games. Both goaltenders should be in for a long night with both teams looking to attack hard and should find success with both expected goalies, Ducks’ Lukas Dostal and the Capitals’ Darcy Kuemper, have goals against averages over 3.27 and no shutouts. All the star players could be absent from this one with the Ducks’ Trevor Zegras, Pavel Mintyukov, Max Jones and the Capitals’ Sonny Milano and Alex Ovechkin all likely out for tonight’s contest.
Both teams will need to come up with a new look to their offense with most of their players out and it provides a good chance for us to take advantage of the sportsbooks with so much uncertainty about the game. Here is our best bets for tonight’s game between the Ducks and Capitals.
All betting lines are from Bet365 and are subject to change. Please gamble responsibly.
Pick: Ducks over 2.5 goals (-130), Ducks +1.5 (-155)
This is the kind of game, where a lot of people may look at both expected goaltenders and target the over especially with being at such a low line of six. Alex Ovechkin is a pivotal part of the Capitals offense with many league sources noting the recent additions over the past few off-seasons of mainly forwards like Dylan Strome and most recently Max Pacioretty were only brought in to help Ovechkin get the goal record. So with a team solely based around one player, it should throw them off and the Capitals are 9-15-1 in their last 25 games without Ovechkin, which means they struggle to change up the game plan without him.
It makes me doubt that the Capitals can hold up their end of the bargain when it comes to the over and makes me just like the Ducks, who have scored three or more goals in three of their last four games even against tough defenses in the Panthers, Lightning and Predators.
The Ducks have also walked away with points in seven of their last ten matchups versus the Caps, which makes the puck line also feel like a great play as they are 23-16 this season as an underdog on the puck line.