Washington Capitals Vs. Pittsburgh Penguins Odds, Picks, and Predictions (2/1/22)
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In their last game, which was on Friday, 1/28, the Washington Capitals beat the Dallas Stars, 5-0. Tom Wilson and John Carlson each scored a power play goal in the first period, while Vitek Vanecek made 29 saves in shutting out the Stars. The Capitals are 24-12-9 with 57 points, fourth in the Metropolitan Division. On Sunday, Pittsburgh lost at home to Los Angeles, 4-3. In the loss Bryan Rust scored two goals including a power play goal. The Penguins are 27-11-7 with 61 points, third in the Metropolitan Division. The long-time rivals, the Capitals and Penguins will face each other on Tuesday, February 1st at the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh.
Washington Capitals Vs. Pittsburgh Penguins Betting Odds
Washington is 0-7 in their last seven games after allowing two goals or less in their previous game. Capitals are 0-4 in their last four games following a win. Under is 5-1 in Washington’s last six road games. The Capitals are 3-7 in the last 10 meetings. The road team is 5-2 in the last seven meetings between the clubs. Pittsburgh is 5-0 in their last five game vs. Metropolitan Division foes. The Penguins are 7-1 in their last eight games vs. Eastern Conference opponents. Pittsburgh is 6-1 in their last seven games vs. a team with a winning record. The Penguins have won five of the last seven games against the Capitals in Pittsburgh.
Washington Capitals Betting Odds
Washington is led by captain, Alex Ovechkin who’s fourth all-time in goals and in great position to break 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 +225. The three-time Hart Trophy winner is tied for fourth in the NHL in points with 58 this year (29 goals and 29 assists). The Stanley Cup winner is a +15 and averaging 21:52 of ice time per game. Center Evgeny Kuznetsov is second on the team in points with 43 in 42 games (13 goals and 30 assists). He’s a +11 and averaging 21:25 of ice time per game this season. Tom Wilson has 30 points on the year (13 goals and 17 assists) and plays a rough style that can at times rub other teams the wrong way. He has five points on the power play and is second on the team in hits with 121. Wilson is a +8 and skating 19:26 of ice time per game in 2021-22. Stanley Cup winner Lars Eller has 20 points in 38 games for Washington (seven goals and 13 assists). He’s delivered 46 hits on the season and is a +3. Star center Nicklas Backstrom returned to the Capitals lineup in mid-December, scoring 12 points in 12 games and is a +3.
John Carlson leads Washington’s defensemen in scoring with 33 points (nine goals and 24 assists) and is +1400 to win the Norris Trophy. The Stanley Cup winner has nine points on the power play this season (four goals and five assists). He’s a +11 while logging 23:40 of ice time per game. Carlson has blocked 52 shots and registered 33 hits. Dmitry Orlov has 20 points on the season (five goals and 15 assists). He’s a +16, delivering 72 hits and blocking 46 shots this year. Orlov has 18 takeaways and is averaging 21:04 of ice per game in 2021-22. Trevor van Riemsdyk has registered 11 assists on the season and scored his first goal of the season in the victory over the Stars this past Friday. He also leads the team in blocked shots with 72. Martin Fehervary is an aggressive defenseman for the Capitals, leading the defensive group in hits with 113. The second-year defender is a +15 and has six points on the campaign.
Vitek Vanecek and Ilya Samsonov have almost split the goalie duties evenly this season. Ilya Samsonov has started 20 games for Washington this season. This year he’s 13-5-3 with a .903 save percentage and a 2.79 GAA. Additionally, Samsonov has three shutouts on the year. Vitek Vanecek has started 22 games for the Capitals in 2021-22. On the season he’s 10-6-5 with a .916 save percentage and a 2.35 GAA. Vanecek also has two shutouts on the season: including his last start against Dallas this past Friday.
Pittsburgh Penguins Betting Odds
Jake Guentzel leads the Penguins in goals (23) and points (43) this year. He has 10 points on the power play in 2021-22. The Nebraska-Omaha product is tied with Mike Matheson in game-winning goals this season with five. Long-time team captain and superstar, Sidney Crosby is third on the team in scoring with 38 points in 33 games (12 goals and 26 assists). The two-time Hart Trophy winner is a +10 and is averaging 19:30 of ice-time per game. The three-time Stanley Cup winner has 1,363 points in 1,072 career games: he’s two goals away from 500 career goals. Evan Rodrigues has had a quality season scoring 32 points in 45 games: netting 15 goals. Veteran Jeff Carter has 26 points on the year (12 goals and 14 assists). The two-time Stanley Cup winner is an impact veteran presence on the team winning 57.2% of his face-offs. Bryan Rust has 30 points in 2021-22 (12 goals and 18 points). He’s a +8 and is averaging 18:16 of ice time per game for Pittsburgh. After missing the first few months of the season, Evegeni Malkin has 12 points in 11 games this season (four goals and eight assists). The 2011-12 Hart Trophy winner has 1,116 career points: averaging 1.17 points per game in his illustrious career.
In his 16th season, the Penguins defensive stalwart Kris Letang is the club’s second leading scorer with 40 points (five goals and 35 assists). The two-time Stanley Cup winner is a team leading +16 while logging the most ice time per game by a Pittsburgh defenseman at 25:45. He has 77 blocked shots and has been physical delivering 91 hits (second on the team behind forward Zach Aston-Reese’s 141) this year. Letang is listed at +3000 to win his first career Norris Trophy. Mike Matheson has been one of the most consistent players on the team. He’s scored six goals on the year with five of those being game winners, tied for the team lead. The former Boston College Eagle is a +7 while averaging 18:16 of ice time per game. Brian Dumoulin has 14 points in 2021-22 and is a +11 this year. Dumoulin has blocked a team high 80 shots this campaign and is averaging 22:09 of ice time per game.
Tristan Jarry has started 34 games between the pipes for the Penguins this season. He’s 23-8-5 with a .925 save percentage and has a 2.17 GAA. Jarry is currently +2000 to win the Vezina Trophy. Casey DeSmith has started 10 games this season winning three of those starts. On the season he has a .892 save percentage and a 3.37 GAA.
Washington Capitals Vs. Pittsburgh Penguins Picks & Prediction
Washington is scoring 3.2 goals per game, which is 11th in the league. Defensively the Capitals are allowing 2.7 goals per game, ranked seventh overall and allowing 28.3 shots per game, second in the league. Pittsburgh is scoring 3.3 goals per game, ranking them ninth in the NHL and attempting 34.4 shots per game, sixth overall. On the defensive side, the Penguins are allowing 2.6 goals per game which ranks third in the NHL. Washington had lost their two previous games by a combined score of 5-1. After winning six games in a row, Pittsburgh has now lost three games in a row. I like Penguins in this game with the teams combining for under 5.5 goals.
