Opening Moneyline: Washington -130 / Ottawa +110 O/U 6 goals
Time: 7 PM EST Thursday February 11, 2010 on TSN
Tonight in the Great White North the Ottawa Senators host the Washington Capitals. The Caps still lead the East and are running away with the Southeast Division, but their 14 game winning streak came to an end last night with a loss to Montreal. The Senators are playing great lately, as they are coming off a win, have won 9 of their last 10 games, and are now tied atop the Northeast Division with the slumping Buffalo Sabres.
This season the Senators are 22-8-3 at home and the Capitals are 18-9-4 on the road.
The Capitals lost for the first time in a month last night falling to the Montreal Canadiens 6-5 while the Senators beat the Calgary Flames 3-2 on Tuesday night.
While the Caps still have the league's best record they have lost 3 straight against the Senators in Ottawa.
Ottawa is in the 5th position in the Eastern Conference and only trail 4th place Pittsburgh by 2 points.
Ottawa has the 2nd best home record in the East this season.
Ottawa has a mediocre defense and tonight they will be facing a Washington offense that ranks 1st in the league in scoring this season (3.90 goals per game).
If the Senators can play good defense they have a great chance to win this game, as the Caps defense is giving up an average of 2.69 goals per game.
With the dynamic offense the Caps have, led by NHL goals and points leader Alex Ovechkin, Senators' G Brian Elliott (20 wins 2.49 GAA save percentage 91.2%) will have to play well. The Senators have won 10 of their last 11 games and Elliot has been solid in that time with a GAA of only 1.59. In his career Elliot is 2-0-0 with a 3.77 GAA against the Capitals.
Caps' G Jose Theodore (20 wins 2.94 GAA save percentage 90.6%) made 26 saves in a 5-2 home win over Ottawa in the teams' last meeting on January 7th. However, Theodore has lost 4 of his last 5 starts in Ottawa.
The Senators have to stay out of the penalty box tonight, as the Caps have 61 power-play goals this season.
Washington is 5-0 in their last 5 road games, has an Over record of 6-1 in their last 7 road games, and has an Over record of 11-4-3 in their last 18 games.
Ottawa is 5-0 in their last 5 games against teams with a winning percentage above 60%, has an Under record of 7-0-1 in their last 8 home games, and has an Under record of 8-1-1 in their last 10 games.
In this match up between these 2 teams the total has gone over in 4 of the last 5 games and the home team has won 12 of the last 16 games.
Our Selection : Washington lost last night 6-5 in OT to the Canadiens ending their 14 game winning streak. The Capitals were down 5-2 going into the final period and came all the way back tiying the game up in the final seconds, only to lose in OT. Tough to lose that one and are right back in action against the 2nd hottest team in the East the Ottawa Senators winners of 12 of last 13 and their last 6 at home. Really tough to go against the Washington even with tough loss and playing 2nd game on the road in back to back situation, usually not a good spot for any team.
Well the Capitals aren't any team, they never take a night off, the Caps have the number 1 offense in the league averaging almost 4 goals a game. They have a Over record of 6-1 in their last 7 road games, and have an Over record of 11-4-3 in their last 18 games. Won't play the Caps in this spot as a favorite but think they'll score enough to put this total well over the posted number. Take Over 6 goals
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.
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