Detroit Red Wings at Washington Capitals Betting Preview
Opening Moneyline: Capitals -177 Red Wings +163 O/U 6 goals
Time: 7 PM EST Tuesday January 19, 2010
This season the Capitals are 16-3-3 at home and the Red Wings are 10-9-5 on the road.
In the past few seasons the Red Wings have had one of the best offenses in the NHL. However, this season they have had many players injured and they only rank 27th in the league in scoring (2.50 goals per game).
Johan Franzen, Tomas Holmstrom and Niklas Kronwall are all currently injured and will not be in the lineup tonight.
The Red Wings started the season poorly and they have got back in the playoff race because of their defense, which is giving up 2.48 goals per game, and the play of G Jimmy Howard.
Howard has played great this season and ranks 2nd in the league in GAA (2.18) and 3rd in save percentage (92.8%). In Howard's last 12 starts he is 6-3-3 in his last 12 games with a GAA of only 1.89 and tonight will be his first start against Washington and he will have his hands full against the best offense in the NHL.
This season the Capitals are averaging 3.71 goals per game, have scored at least 4 goals in their last 8 games, and have scored at least 5 goals in their last 3 games in the Nation's Capital.
The struggling Detroit offense has to get a good game tonight from Henrik Zetterberg, who leads the Red Wings in assists (25) and points (37).
One person the Detroit D has to key on is superstar Alex Ovechkin, who has 4 goals and 10 assists in his last 6 games and ranks 2nd in the league in both points (64) and goals (30).
Detroit has made the playoffs 19 straight season and they currently are in 9th place in the Western Division so they have to move up in the standings if they are going to make it 20 straight seasons in the post-season.
Detroit is 4-1 in their last 5 games against teams with a winning record, Under in 6-1-1 of their last 8 games on the road, and Under in 8-3-2 of their last 13 games against teams with a winning record. Washington is 6-1 in their last 7 games, Over in 4 of their last 5 home games, and have an Over record of 12-3-2 in their last 17 games.
Our Selection : Detroit has lost 3 of last 4, only win was to Carolina. Washington has won 6 of last 7, and 4 in a row at home. The Redwings are still missing a few key players. The Capitals have only lost 3 games in regulation at home all year (16-3-3). Take the Capitals -.5 in 60 mins
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