Nashville Predators will host Washington Capitals in the NHL 2021-22 action on Tuesday evening. The hosts want to break their losing streak and remain comfortable in the top-four zone. The away side still struggles with consistency, and they look forward to stabilizing their form.
Nashville hasn’t played well lately, but they still sit in the playoffs zone. Nevertheless, they need to improve and get back on the winning track not to let the rivals get dangerously close. On the other hand, Washington needs to enter the winning streak if they want to challenge the pole position in their division.
Nashville Predators – Will they return to the winning track?
The Predators have been running hot and cold lately, and those periods were coming in streaks. After five straight wins, they lost four times in a row and tied another three wins. Looking to their most recent games, Nashville celebrated just once on the previous four occasions. Nevertheless, they are still third in the Central Division with a 28-16-4 record, but their major rivals have two games in hand. They head to this game after two straight defeats, and the latest one came against the Jets. Nashville lost 5-2 on the home ice, and they didn’t have many clinical players in that encounter.
Roman Josi has been the most productive player in Nashville’s offense with 47 points, including a team-high 34 assists. Filip Forsberg is the Predators’ best scorer with 24 goals, producing a total of 40 points. Another skater that crossed the 40-point mark is Matt Duchene, while Mikael Granlund and Ryan Johansen have chipped in with 35+ points each. On the other hand, Juuse Saros has spent most of the time between the pipes, making 40 appearances this season. Nashville’s first-choice goaltender has allowed 2.43 goals per game, having a very good .925 save percentage.
Expected Line-Up: Juuse Saros, Mattias Ekholm, Alexandre Carrier, Tanner Jeannot, Matt Duchene, Mikael Granlund
with best odds
Washington Capitals – Can they book the road victory?
The Capitals still haven’t managed to stabilize their form, and they have been in a similar situation as their upcoming rivals. Washington also booked one win in the last four rounds, while the away side won five times and lost the same number of games on the previous ten occasions. Washington is 4th in the Metropolitan Division, but a run of victories would see them back in the battle for the top spot. However, they need to do much better than against the Senators when they lost 4-1 at home. Although they had 34 shots, Ottawa was more clinical in front of Ilya Samsonov’s goal.
Alex Ovechkin tops the most important offensive charts for Washington, while he’s one of the NHL’s most productive players. He scored 29 goals and contributed with 60 points, while Evgeny Kuznetsov is the best assistant with 33, producing 48 points so far in the campaign. John Carlson and Tom Wilson have 33+ points each, while three other skaters have chipped in with 20 points or more. On the goal, Ilya Samsonov and Vitek Vanecek split their time, allowing 2.78 goals per contest.
Expected Line-Up: Ilya Samsonov, Dmitry Orlov, Trevor van Riemsdyk, Lars Eller, Conor Sheary, Evgeny Kuznetsov
Expert Pick #1 – Over 6 @+100
My first pick for this encounter will be the Over. Four of both sides’ last five games went over the margin, while the Over cashed each time in these two teams’ clashes in Nashville. Therefore, I’m going to back it on the plus money odds again.
Expert Pick #2 – Predators to win (Inc. OT and Pen.) @-140
This match could go either way, but I’m leaning towards the hosts. Washington has been very inconsistent recently, and they didn’t enjoy their road games too much. Although the Predators haven’t been more confident either, I’ll back them as the second bet.
Expert Pick #3 – Predators & Both Teams Over 1.5 @+245
I’ll try with a longer shot for my third pick, going with Nashville to win, followed by at least two goals in each net. The odds are pretty attractive, and knowing that their h2h clashes in Nashville have been very efficient, might bring us nice returns.
