Atlanta Thrashers at Washington Capitals Betting Odds
Opening Moneyline: Atlanta +240 / Washington -280 O/U 6.5 goals
Time: 7 PM EST Thursday April 1, 2010
Tonight in an Eastern Conference game that is vital for one team and means nothing for the other the Washington Capitals host the Atlanta Thrashers. The Thrashers are in desperation mode, as they have to finish the season strong since they trail Boston and Montreal by 2 points for the 8th and last playoff spot. The Capitals have already wrapped up the top seed in the East, but are not playing great heading into the post-season.
The Capitals have lost 3 in a row and are 5-2-3 in their last 10 games and the Thrashers are coming off a win and are 6-2-2 in their last 10 games.
This season the Capitals are 27-5-5 at home and the Thrashers are 16-16-6 on the road.
In their last games the Thrashers beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2 on Tuesday night and the Capitals lost to the Ottawa Senators 5-4 also on Tuesday night.
The Thrashers have lost 7 straight games to the Capitals and in their 4 losses to them this season Atlanta has been outscored 32-16.
Atlanta has a tough road to make the post season, as with 5 games left they play the Washington twice, Pittsburgh twice, and New Jersey, who are all teams that are in the top 4 in the East.
The Thrashers may have to jump on the Capitals early, as in their last 3 games Washington has been outscored 9-1 in the 1st period.
Atlanta has a solid offense ranking 7th in the league in scoring (2.90 goals per game) and will be facing struggling Capitals’ G Jose Theodore (27 wins 2.87 GAA save percentage 90.8%), who has a GAA of 3.27 in his last 7 starts.
While the Thrashers have a good offense their defense is one of the worst in the league allowing an average of 3.06 goals per game. That is not good facing a Capitals/ offense the ranks 1st in the league in scoring (3.83 goals per game).
Atlanta G Johan Hedberg (20 wins 2.64 GAA save percentage 91.4%) will likely be between the pipes tonight and he will have to play well for the Thrashers to have any chance to win this game.
Betting Trends
Atlanta is 4-0 in their last 4 games against teams with a winning record, 7-19 in their last 26 road games, and has an Under record of 6-0 in their last 6 games.
Washington is 1-4 in their last 5 home games against teams with a losing road record and has an Over record of 18-7-3 in their last 28 games against teams with a losing record.
In the last 4 games between these 2 teams in Washington the total has gone Over 4 times.
Our Selection : Take Over 6.5 goals.
Future Betting Odds
NHL Handicapping
Tampa Bay Lightning at Boston Bruins 5-17
The Boston Bruins need to play much better in game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals. The Bruins lost the opener 5-2 at home and can ill-afford to fall behind 2-0 to Lightning. Tampa Bay are on quite a roll, winning their last eight in a row in the playoffs. The oddsmaker at Bodog have the Bruins as a -145 favorite to even-up the series.