Washington Capitals will host Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday evening in the NHL 2021-22 action. The home side wants to remain comfortable in the top four and try to increase the advantage over the upcoming opponent. The visitors are quite far from the playoffs zone, but they don’t want to give up on their chances.
Washington has been struggling with consistency lately, and they want to resolve that issue. They also lost three straight games on the home ice and will look forward to bouncing back. On the other hand, the away side will search for a positive result to keep its hopes for a playoffs spot. Columbus is right behind their upcoming rivals, but the gap is currently pretty high.
Washington Capitals – Will they become more consistent?
The Capitals have been running hot and cold lately, and a break came at the right time for them to recharge and stabilize. They sit in 4th place in the Metropolitan Division with a 25-13-9 record, having an 18-point advantage over their upcoming opponent. However, Washington still needs to be cautious, as Columbus has four games in hand, and a win here would push the hosts to the post-season. The Caps lost at home 5-3 against the Oilers in their last match, and they should improve their defensive work.
Alex Ovechkin dominates Washington’s offensive charts with 58 points, while he’s the team’s best scorer with 29 goals. However, he’s marked questionable for this game, and we’ll see if he will participate. Evgeny Kuznetsov made a team-high 31 assists while producing a total of 45 points. John Carlson and Tom Wilson have crossed a 30-point mark, while three other players contributed with 20+ points each. Regarding the goaltending, Ilya Samsonov and Vitek Vanecek split their time between the pipes with 24 appearances each. They have allowed 2.72 goals per game while having a .910 save percentage.
Expected Line-Up: Ilya Samsonov, Dmitry Orlov, Trevor van Riemsdyk, Lars Eller, Conor Sheary, Evgeny Kuznetsov
with best odds
Columbus Blue Jackets – Will they keep their playoffs bid alive?
The Blue Jackets are just one spot behind the playoffs zone, but they need to improve their performance to catch up with their division rivals. They booked only four wins on the previous ten occasions and are currently at a 20-22-1 record. Columbus needs to connect the strings in defense, as they have allowed too many goals so far in the season. The visitors go to this game after losing to Florida Panthers at home in their most recent game. Elvis Merzlikins had a terrible evening between the pipes conceding seven times, while the final score was 8-4.
Boone Jenner has contributed the most to the Blue Jackets’ offense with 30 points while being the team’s top scorer with 18 goals. Jakub Voracek has made the most assists – 27 – and chipped in with one more goal for a total of 28 points. Oliver Bjorkstrand has also produced 28 points, while Gustav Nyquist and Zach Werenski have 25 points each. On the other hand, Elvis Merzlikins has a save percentage just above 90% (.905), while he allows 3.39 goals per contest.
Expected Line-Up: Elvis Merzlikins, Zach Werenski, Jake Bean, Jakub Voracek, Oliver Bjorkstrand, Boone Jenner
Expert Pick #1 – Washington Capitals -1.5 @-105
Despite not being too consistent lately, the Capitals are strong favorites in this matchup. I believe they made good use of the break to prepare well for this match, and I’ll take them on the puck line market for the best value as my first pick.
Expert Pick #2 – Over 6 @-125
Although the hosts might miss Alex Ovechkin in this game, they still have plenty of talent in the offense. On the other hand, 12 of the last 18 Blue Jackets matches went over the margin, and this one shouldn’t be much different. Give me the Over as the second bet.
Expert Pick #3 – Capitals Over 3.5 @-135
Although the odds are slightly lower for this pick compared to the previous two, I’m going to back it. Columbus has severe troubles in the back, and they have allowed 3.67 goals per game so far. Therefore, I believe the Caps will be efficient enough in this one to cross a 3.5 margin.
