Free NHL Hockey Prediction: Rangers vs Capitals NHL Odds
Looking for New York Rangers vs. Washington Capitals free hockey plays & NHL odds? NHL betting sees the Rangers taking on the Capitals on Wednesday, October 13th at the Capital One Arena, Washington, DC. Cappers Picks provides complimentary handicapping picks all NHL season long including all NHL hockey games so stay tuned for more FREE daily NHL hockey predictions like this Rangers Capitals matchup.
(0-0) New York Rangers vs. Washington Capitals (0-0)
Date: Wednesday, October 13th
Time: 7:30 PM
Venue: Capitals One Arena, Washington, DC
NHL Hockey Moneyline Odds: Rangers -105, Capitals -115
NHL Hockey Puck Line Odds: Rangers +1.5 -230, Capitals -1.5 +190
NHL Betting Total: O/U 5.5
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This is the main game I’ve been looking forward to watching tonight, not only from a betting perspective but from a hockey fan perspective. These two teams ended last season hating each other, with questionable attacks from both sides. Of course, Tom Wilson was involved as well.
This season, Ryan Reaves is on the Rangers, a long-time nemesis of Wilson. New York purposely bulked up their team outside of the main core players in order to not get ran over like they did against Washington last season.
The intensity in this game should be high from opening puck drop. Everyone is waiting to see if/when we’ll get some fights and big hits in this one. Oh yeah, and they’re also both playing to win.
New York Rangers
New York ended with 60 points last season, not quite good enough to make the playoffs. They had a late push but it was too little, too late. They finished 22nd in the league in percentage of expected goals (data from Natural Stat Trick), and were 4-3 against the Capitals last season (2-2 on the road).
In those 7 games, they were outplayed in most of them despite winning. The first meeting they had 54% of the expected goal share, but didn’t hit above 51% in any other game. That sample size includes 3 games in which they had under 35% expected goals (which is horrible).
MoneyPuck predicts these two teams to be close in the standings, with the Rangers projected 14th in power rankings and Washington at 12th. Those are pretty much middle-of-the-pack in the division.
The Rangers have a new identity this year, and it will be interesting to see how they do against a big first test. Their goaltending was shaky last year, but so was Washington’s. Shesterkin was expected to be great as he was the previous season, but he was just mediocre or slightly above average. The Capitals have no depth in net.
Washington Capitals
The Capitals are used to playing with toughness, something we’re expecting to be prevalent tonight. It won’t interfere with the way they like to win hockey games. This team is getting old, but they still have a balanced combination of skill and grit, something most hockey teams are trying to achieve.
Washington was 12th in the league in expected goals, which is impressive considering they are usually a top team despite being in the bottom half of the league in that category. They tend to rely on their skill players shooting at a higher percentage than average and not needing high danger scoring chances to light the lamp.
Both teams are dealing with some injuries already. Backstrom is out for the Capitals and Ovechkin is questionable. I’m not too concerned since they have other stars on the top forward lines. The Rangers have Reaves (the biggest factor in my opinion) and Strome both questionable.
NHL Betting Trends:
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- Rangers are 0-4 in their last 4 games vs. the Metropolitan division.
- Rangers are 1-5 in their last 6 overall.
- Favorite is 41-16 in the last 57 meetings.
- Capitals are 8-2 in the last 10 meetings in Washington.
- The Over is 3-0-1 in the last 4 meetings.
- The Under is 6-1-2 in the last 9 WAS games overall.
4* Free NHL Betting Prediction: Washington Capitals -115
One trend used in the early NHL season is backing short favorites in their first couple games. It hits at a high percentage with a good sample size. We’ll take the Capitals in their home opener.
In this situation, the line gives credit to Washington being at home, with a team that was better than the Rangers last year. Maybe New York will be better in month or so, but right now they need time to figure things out (much like the Kraken last night).
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