Trent Reinsmith
- What: Washington Capitals vs. New York Rangers
- Date: Tuesday, March 14, 2023
- Location: Madison Square Garden in New York City
- Time: 7:00 p.m. ET
- How to Watch: ESPN, ESPN+, SNE, SNP, TVAS
A critical Metropolitan division matchup goes down tonight when the NY Rangers host the Washington Capitals at Madison Square Garden in a nationally televised ESPN game. With the 2023 NHL season entering the playoff stretch, the Rangers are in third place in the Eastern Conference’s Metro division with a 37-19-10 record and 84 points. Barring a complete collapse, the Rangers are a relatively safe pick to make the 2023 NHL postseason. However, the 32-28-7 Capitals club are not a lock for the playoffs. Washington’s 71 points put the Alex Ovechkin-led squad behind the Florida Panthers, NY Islanders and Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference wild card race.
The Rangers enter tonight’s game with a 17-11-4 home record. Overall, the team is 4-5-1 in its past 10 outings. New York is coming off a 3-2 overtime loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday. The extra time setback marked the third straight game the team finished tied at the end of regulation. In the two previous matchups, the Rangers beat the Canadiens in a shootout and the Sabres in overtime. Tonight marks the Rangers’ first home game since a 5-3 loss to the Senators on March 2.
The Capitals are 17-15-3 on the road in 2023. Washington is also 4-5-1 in its 10 most recent games. The Caps are coming off a 5-1 road win over the NY Islanders on Saturday.
Before we consider the betting breakdown for tonight’s NHL matchup between the Washington Capitals and the NY Rangers, check out our guide to betting on the 2023 Stanley Cup and our tips for betting on the NHL.
Washington Capitals vs. New York Rangers picks – March 14, 2023
| Teams |  |  |  |  |
| Washington Capitals | +149 | +145 | +150 | +150 |
| New York Rangers | -165 | -170 | -170 | -170 |
Washington Capitals breakdown
2023 has not been kind to the Washington Capitals. Since the new year, Washington has won 11 games and lost 17. Included in that is a six-game losing skid. If the team hopes to make the 2023 NHL playoffs, they need to recapture the magic that saw the club put together a 10-1 run between December 5 and December 27. That final winning game of that stretch was a 4-0 shutout win over the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden. The Capitals also defeated the Rangers 6-3 on February 25 in DC. That victory ended the aforementioned six-game losing skid.
Alex Ovechkin leads the Capitals in scoring with 62 points. He also leads the club with 36 goals on the year. Evgeny Kuznetsov is second in team scoring with 50 points (11 goals and 39 assists.) Other than Ovechkin, no player on the Capitals has more than 17 goals. Defenseman Rasmus Sandin is the player to watch heading into tonight’s action. He has scored eight of his 28 points on the season in the past five games.
Goaltender Darcy Kuemper has a 2.71 goals against average and a .913 save percentage on the season. Kuemper was in goal for both Capitals wins over the Rangers this season.
NY Rangers breakdown
The Rangers were on a good run in late January through early February when they went on a seven-game winning streak. However, the team lost four in a row after that and have gone 4-3 since then. While the Rangers appear safe in the standings, there are no guarantees in the NHL and the team needs to play with more consistency down the stretch.
Artemi Panarin leads the Rangers in scoring with 73 points. His 53 assists are also tops on the team. The Rangers’ leading goal scorer is Mika Zibanejad, who has 32. He is second on the club in scoring with 68 points. Outside of Panarin and Zibanejad, New York has one other player with more than 20 goals, Chris Kreider (28). Meanwhile, Vincent Trocheck and Filip Chytil each have 19.
Igor Shesterkin has played well in net for the Rangers. He has a GAA of 2.63 and a save percentage of .910. He was on the losing end of the two previous Rangers vs. Capitals outings.
Best bet for Washington Capitals vs. New York Rangers
Tonight’s ESPN NHL game between the Capitals and Rangers should be an entertaining one. With the Capitals up 2-0 in the season series against the Rangers, I’m going with the value bet in this game and picking the Capitals to score an upset win over the Rangers in New York City.
Pick: Washington Capitals to beat the NY Rangers.
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