Washington Capitals Vs. Dallas Stars Odds, Picks, and Predictions (1/28/22)

By Scott Steinberg | Jan 27, 2022, 7:58pm

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On Wednesday, the Capitals lost at home to the San Jose Shark, 4-1. Washington has lost eight of their past 11 games. The Capitals are 23-12-9 with 55 points, fourth in the Metropolitan Division. Joe Pavelski had four points, two goals and two assists, and Braden Holtby had 36 saves as the Dallas Stars extended their winning streak to four games with a 5-1 win over the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday. The Stars are 22-16-2 with 46 points, fifth in the Central Division. Dallas hosts Washington on Friday in the opener of a six-game homestand. Dallas is 14-4-1 at the American Airlines Center.

Washington Capitals Vs. Dallas Stars Betting Odds

The Capitals are 0-5 in their last five games vs. a team with a winning record. Washington is 1-5 in their last six game vs. Western Conference opponents. The Capitals are 7-20 in their last 27 meetings with the Stars. Washington is currently listed at +2500 to win the franchise’s second Stanley Cup. The

Stars are 4-0 in their last four games vs. Eastern Conference teams. Dallas is 14-3 in their last 17 vs. Metropolitan Division opponents. In their last four games overall, the Stars are 4-0. Dallas is +5000 to win their franchise’s second Stanley Cup.

Washington Capitals Betting Odds

The Capitals are led by captain, Alex Ovechkin who’s fourth all-time in goals and in hot pursuit of Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goal record. “The Great Eight” is 135 goals behind “The Great One’s” record of 894 goals. Ovechkin is currently listed as +330 to win the Hart Trophy, only Connor McDavid is ahead at +200. The three-time Hart Trophy winner is tied for second in the NHL in points with 59 this year. The Stanley Cup winner is a +15 and averaging 21:59 of ice time per game. Center Evgeny Kuznetsov is second on the team in points with 41 in 41 games (13 goals and 28 assists). He’s a +11 and averaging 21:33 of ice time per game this season. Tom Wilson has 29 points on the year (12 goals and 17 assists) and continues to play a style that fits in more with the NHL in the 1980’s. The winger is second on the team in hits with 121. Wilson is +8 and skating 19:30 of ice time per game in 2021-22. Stanley Cup winner Lars Eller has 19 points in 37 games for Washington (seven goals and 12 assists). He’s delivered 45 hits on the season and is a +1. Connor Sheary is a Washington forward I really like; he seems to come up big at just the right moment. On the season he has 10 goals in 34 games.

John Carlson leads Washington’s defensemen in scoring with 32 points (eight goals and 24 assists). The Stanley Cup winner has eight points on the power play this season (three goals and five assists). He’s a +11 while logging 23:45 of ice time per game. Carlson has blocked 48 shots and registered 33 hits. Dmitry Orlov has 19 points on the season (five goals and 14 assists). He’s a +15, delivering 70 hits and blocking 43 shots this year. Orlov has 17 takeaways and is 21:01 of ice per game in 2021-22. Trevor van Riemsdyk has registered 11 assists on the season while leading the team in blocked shots with 71. Martin Fehervary is an aggressive defenseman for the Capitals, leading the defensive group in hits with 110. The second-year defender is a +15 and has six points this season.

Vitek Vanecek and Ilya Samsonov has almost split the goalie duties 50-50. Ilya Samsonov has started 20 games for Washington this season. On Wednesday, he made 26 saves in the loss to San Jose. This year he’s 13-5-3 with a .903 save percentage and a 2.79 GAA. Vitek Vanecek has started 21 games for the Capitals in 2021-22. On the season he’s 9-6-5 with a .912 save percentage and a 2.47 GAA.

Dallas Stars Betting Odds

Joe Pavelski in his 16^th NHL season, leads the Stars in scoring with 48 points (19 goals and 29) assists); he’s currently on a six-game point scoring streak. He’s been awesome on the power play this year with 14 points (seven goals and seven assists). Pavelski is tied for second on the team in plus/minus at +14 while logging 17:40 of ice time per game. Left wing Jason Robertson is second on the team in scoring with 39 points (16 goals and 23 assists). He’s tied with Pavelski for second on the team in plus/minus at +14, Robertson has tallied 11 points on the power play (six goals and five assists). In his third season he’s tied for the team lead in game winning goals with five. Roope Hintz leads Dallas in plus/minus this year at +15. He’s third on the team in points with 36 in 2021-22. Hintz and Pavelski lead the Stars in goals this season with 19 each. Center Tyler Seguin has appeared in 40 for Dallas this season, scoring 12 goals. He’s won 55.9% of his face-offs and averaging 17:29 of ice time per game this campaign. Long-time Dallas Star and team captain, Jamie Benn has 17 points on the season (nine goals and eight assists). He has six points on the power play this year (two goals and four assists.). In 906 games as a Star, Benn has 740 points (320 goals and 420 assists).

Miro Heiskanen leads the Dallas defense in points with 25 points (four goals and 21 assists). He has eight points on the power play this season (two goals and six assists). He averages 24:43 of ice time per game and has blocked 55 shots of the year. John Klingberg is a player a lot of teams are interested in as the season progresses, but for now he remains with the Stars. He’s the second highest scoring defenseman on the club with 22 points (one goal and 21 assists). Klingberg has 11 points on the power play and averaging 21:37 of ice time per game in 2021-22. He’s questionable for the game against Washington due to an upper body injury. Esa Lindell has played in 40 this season and leads the team with 81 blocked shots. In his seventh season the defenseman has chipped in 12 points (three goals and nine assists) while registering 81 hits in 2021-22. Hulking defenseman Jani Hakanpaa has played in 39 games and leads the club in hits with 101.

This should be an emotional game for Braden Holtby, who backstopped the Capitals to the 2018 Stanley Cup, because this will be the first time, he plays Washington since leaving last season in free agency. Holtby has started 19 games for the Stars this season. He has won three straight starts giving up a combined nine goals in those contests. The 2015-16 Vezina Trophy winner is 9-8-1 with a .917 save percentage and a 2.60 GAA in 2021-22. Jake Oettinger a first-round pick by Dallas in 2017 has played 14 games through almost the end of January. He’s 10-4-0 with a .909 save percentage and a 2.60 GAA.

Washington Capitals Vs. Dallas Stars Picks & Prediction

Washington is scoring 3.1 goals per game, which is 12^th in the league. Defensively the Capitals are allowing 2.7 goals per game, ranked 10^th overall and allowing 28.3 shots per game, second overall. Dallas is scoring 3.0 goals per game, ranking them 16^th in the NHL. On the defensive side, the Stars are allowing 3.0 goals per game which ranks 20 in the league. I like the Stars to win this game, Braden Holtby should be net for Dallas and he’ll be especially pumped up facing his former team. T.J. Oshie has been out of the Capitals lineup and the team has struggled without him. He could return against Dallas, but no announcement has been made as of Thursday afternoon. I’d also go with under 5.5 combined goals scored in this contest.

Scott Steinberg

Scott has been a sports fan since he received a New York Mets jacket as a toddler. He’s been playing fantasy baseball and football for over 20 years, dating back to Frank Thomas being one of his first fantasy baseball picks. As a professional, he has covered the NFL, MLB, NCAAF, and NCAAB and is looked to as the go-to guy for fantasy sports amongst family, friends, and co-workers.