NHL Betting Picks, Odds, And Preview: Washington Capitals vs Vegas Golden Knights

The Washington Capitals will travel to Las Vegas on Monday with high hopes that their star captain Alex Ovechkin will finally break out of his four-game scoring slump and take his vacant spot in the NHL 700-goal club when they take on the Golden Knights inside the T-Mobile Arena. Ovechkin is still two goals away from the milestone but the Russian superstar stays in high spirits despite having his breakthrough moment delayed, opting to move forward instead as he focuses on leading the Capitals’ bounce back bid after they fell against Arizona on Saturday, 3-1.

Washington Capitals

It has been a dismal string of games for the Capitals since the break, plummeting to the third spot in the Eastern Conference after reigning for a relatively long time. They still hold the best record in the Metropolitan Division, but the Pittsburgh Penguins are loudly banging at the door, trying to snatch the division reign with just the slimmest of all margins separating the two. Washington has split its last 10 games, but the team will count on their knack on road games (27-7-1) to try to upset the Golden Knights. Ovechkin is stuck at 40 goals due to his personal dry spell but he remains as the club’s top goal-scorer. John Carlson continues to set his teammates up effectively with 54 assists while staying as the Capitals’ leader in total points with 69.

Vegas Golden Knights

The Vegas Golden Knights Knights bagged back-to-back victories as they enter Monday’s joust. Their last win came last Saturday where they weathered a highly-defensive match against the New York Islands before notching the hard-fought 1-0 triumph, thanks to Reilly Smith who was responsible for the lone goal of the game. The Canadian right-wing now has 22 goals in his name, making it just three points behind his career-high. Vegas is right at the thick of things in the Pacific Division, sitting at the third spot (30-22-8) while trailing by just two points behind Edmonton at the peak.

Odds and Trends

The Vegas Knights, though, got the nod of the sportsbooks as the favorites of this match, pegged at -140 to win based on the latest NHL Odds. The Capitals, on the other hand, are placed as slight underdogs at +120.

The Capitals are 5-1 in their last 6 vs. Pacific and 9-2 in their last 11 games as an underdog.

The Golden Knights are 4-0 in their last 4 after scoring 2 goals or less in their previous game and 4-1 in their last 5 when their opponent scores 2 goals or less in their previous game.

Over is 8-2 in Capitals last 10 games as an underdog and Golden Knights last 11 games following a win.

Under is 4-1 in Capitals last 5 vs. Pacific.

Prediction

Capitals win, 4-2