Trent Reinsmith
- Date & Location: Tuesday, October 19 at Capital One Arena in Washington D.C.
- Odds: Colorado Avalanche (+101) vs. Washington Capitals (-111) via BetOnline.
- Prediction: Washington Capitals to win
The Colorado Avalanche and the Washington Capitals have each played two games this season. The Avalanche are 1-1, while the Capitals are 1-0-1. The Capitals are picked to finish in the top half of the league during the 2021-22 NHL season, while the preseason prognosticators have the Avalanche, who took home the Presidents’ Trophy for the best record in the NHL least season, as one of the favorites to hoist the Stanley Cup. Washington and Colorado face off on Tuesday at Capital Center in Washington, DC
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Washington Capitals
Alex Ovechkin is off to a hot start for the Caps. The team’s captain, who was questionable for the team’s first game of the 2021-22 season, has scored three goals and added two assists for five points in the first two games of the season.
The Capitals are coming off a 2-1 overtime loss to the defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning in their last game. Ovechkin scored the Capitals’ only goal in that game. Vitek Vanecek, who was in net for 37 games for the Capitals last season — his first in the NHL — stopped 22 out of 24 shots in the loss.
Washington has been without Nicklas Backstrom this season. Backstrom was the team’s leading scorer last season. He put up 53 points (15G, 38A) in 55 games. The next highest scorer for the team was John Carlson, who had 44 points. Backstrom did not play with the team during training camp because of a lingering hip injury.
Washington to defeat Colorado -115 via Bovada.
Colorado Avalanche
The Avalanche are coming off a 5-3 loss to the St. Louis Blues. Goaltender Darcy Kuemper, who replaced Vezina Trophy finalist Philipp Grubauer in the off-season, gave up four goals in 27 shots.
Colorado is not in a good spot when it comes to offense heading into this game. The team will be missing two members of its top line against the Capitals. Nathan MacKinnon, who scored 65 points for the Avalanche last season, will miss this game due to Covid protocol. Gabriel Landeskog, who was third on the club in scoring in 2020-21 with 52 points, is serving a two-game suspension for boarding. Those losses are going to hurt the Avalanche.
Colorado to defeat Washington +101 via Sportsbetting.
Pick
The odds might have been against Colorado in this matchup even if the club would have been able to put MacKinnon and Landeskog on the ice. The Caps are 10-2 in their last 12 games against the Avalanche and 5-1 in their past six home games against the Colorado squad. With Ovechkin playing well and Vanecek sporting a .938 save percentage, I expect the Capitals will find success against the Avalanche. The pressure is going to be on Kuemper in the net. He needs to improve on the .852 save percentage he had in the loss to the Blues.
Pick: Washington Capitals to beat the Colorado Avalanche -111 via Betonline.
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