Two future Hall of Famers continue their storied personal rivalry in Thursday’s game of the night in the NHL between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals. With Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin doing battle once again, we had to break down this game with a Penguins vs Capitals betting prediction in tonight’s NHL betting picks.
The Capitals open as -120 home favorites on the moneyline and Pittsburgh open as even money underdogs. The game total is set at 6.5 goals.
Penguins vs Capitals Betting Pick
| ℹ️ The Pick: | Over 6.5 (-105) |
| ? Recommended Sportsbook Promo: | First Bet on Caesars up to $1,250 |
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This game will be played at Capital One Arena at 7:00 PM ET on Thursday, January 26, 2023.
Why Bet the Over:
✅ Pittsburgh and Washington light the lamp whenever they face off, the Over is 4-1 in their last five meetings.
✅ Tristan Jarry’s injury has the Penguins turning to backup Casey DeSmith in goal. DeSmith’s last three starts have all gone over the total, with the Pens allowing 4.66 goals per game.
✅ Both the Pens and Caps give up 30 or more shots per game, making it likely we will see plenty of scoring chances on Thursday night.
NHL
Pittsburgh Penguins
Washington Capitals
Team Records
| PIT | Team Records | WAS |
|---|---|---|
| 14-14-5 | Overall | 21-8-2 |
| 1-2 | Shootout | 0-0 |
| 4-3 | Overtime | 3-2 |
| 9-7-2 | Home | 9-4-2 |
| 5-7-3 | Road | 12-4-0 |
| 9-6-4 | EAS | 14-5-1 |
| 5-8-1 | WES | 7-3-1 |
| 8-1-3 | ATL | 6-1-1 |
| 1-5-1 | MET | 8-4-0 |
| 0-6-0 | CEN | 5-3-0 |
| 5-2-1 | PAC | 2-0-1 |
| 7-1-5 | ≤1 | 7-3-2 |
| 5-10-0 | ≥3 | 9-1-0 |
| 4-7-1 | Oct | 7-2-0 |
| 6-5-3 | Nov | 10-4-1 |
| 4-2-1 | Dec | 4-2-1 |
| 0-0-0 | Jan | 0-0-0 |
| 0-0-0 | Feb | 0-0-0 |
| 0-0-0 | Mar | 0-0-0 |
| 0-0-0 | Apr | 0-0-0 |
Team Stats
| PIT | Team Stats | WAS |
|---|---|---|
| 99 | Goals For | 118 |
| 121 | Goals Agst | 83 |
| 2.85 | PP For GM | 3.1 |
| .64 | PP Goals GM | .65 |
| 22.34 | PP% | 20.83 |
| 2.91 | PP Agst GM | 3.19 |
| .52 | PP Agst Goals GM | .52 |
| 82.29 | PK% | 83.84 |
| 7.0 | PIM GM | 9.1 |
| 7.3 | oPIM GM | 8.6 |
Goalies
| C. DeSmith | D. Kuemper | |
|---|---|---|
| 38 | GP | 33 |
| 33 | GS | 30 |
| 15-16-4 | W-L-T/O | 13-14-3 |
| 109 | Goals Allowed | 103 |
| 3.17 | GAA | 3.31 |
| 1142 | Shots Against | 940 |
| .905 | SV% | .890 |
| 0 | SO | 1 |
| 16 | Quality Starts | 14 |
| .485 | QS% | .467 |
| 7 | Bad Starts | 10 |
| 100 | Goals All.% | 113 |
| 0.35 | Goals Sv Above Avg | -12.14 |
Recent Starts
| Date | Opp | W/L | GA | SA | SV | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5/3/22 NYR | Shesterkin ML N/A | W4-3 TOTAL N/A | 3 | 51 | 48 | .941 |
| 4/29/22 CBJ | Merzlikins ML N/A | W5-3 TOTAL N/A | 3 | 36 | 33 | .917 |
| 4/26/22 EDM | Smith ML N/A | L1-5 TOTAL N/A | 4 | 41 | 37 | .902 |
| 4/23/22 DET | Nedeljkovic ML N/A | W7-2 TOTAL N/A | 2 | 25 | 23 | .920 |
| 4/21/22 BOS | Swayman ML N/A | W4-0 TOTAL N/A | 0 | 52 | 52 | 1.000 |
| Date | Opp | W/L | GA | SA | SV | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5/3/22 NAS | Ingram ML N/A | W7-2 TOTAL N/A | 2 | 25 | 23 | .920 |
| 4/28/22 NAS | Rittich ML N/A | L4-5 TOTAL N/A | 4 | 37 | 33 | .892 |
| 4/26/22 STL | Binnington ML N/A | W5-3 TOTAL N/A | 3 | 32 | 29 | .906 |
| 4/24/22 WPG | Hellebuyck ML N/A | L1-4 TOTAL N/A | 4 | 44 | 40 | .909 |
| 4/22/22 EDM | Smith ML N/A | L3-6 TOTAL N/A | 5 | 26 | 21 | .808 |
Betting Trends
| PIT | Betting Trends | WAS |
|---|---|---|
| OVERALL | OVERALL | |
| 2-1-0 | Win/Loss/Tie | 1-2-0 |
| 2-1-0 | ATS W/L/P | 2-1-0 |
| 4 | Avg Score | 2.67 |
| 3 | Avg Opp Score | 3 |
| AWAY | HOME | |
| 0-3-0 | Win/Loss/Tie | 1-2-0 |
| 3-0-0 | ATS W/L/P | 0-3-0 |
| 2 | Avg Score | 1.33 |
| 3 | Avg Opp Score | 2.33 |
| PIT | Betting Trends | WAS |
|---|---|---|
| OVERALL | OVERALL | |
| 3-2-0 | Win/Loss/Tie | 2-3-0 |
| 3-2-0 | ATS W/L/P | 3-2-0 |
| 4 | Avg Score | 2.8 |
| 3.4 | Avg Opp Score | 3.2 |
| AWAY | HOME | |
| 1-4-0 | Win/Loss/Tie | 1-4-0 |
| 4-1-0 | ATS W/L/P | 0-5-0 |
| 2.4 | Avg Score | 2 |
| 3 | Avg Opp Score | 3 |
| PIT | Betting Trends | WAS |
|---|---|---|
| OVERALL | OVERALL | |
| 5-5-0 | Win/Loss/Tie | 4-6-0 |
| 5-5-0 | ATS W/L/P | 4-6-0 |
| 3.3 | Avg Score | 2.7 |
| 3.3 | Avg Opp Score | 2.9 |
| AWAY | HOME | |
| 3-7-0 | Win/Loss/Tie | 5-5-0 |
| 7-3-0 | ATS W/L/P | 3-7-0 |
| 2.4 | Avg Score | 3.5 |
| 3 | Avg Opp Score | 2.7 |
Head to Head
Teams Last 10
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Pittsburgh Penguins
Pittsburgh makes the trip to Washington looking to solve their road woes against a familiar opponent. The Pens currently are in the middle of a 1-5-2 run in road rinks and are running out of opportunities to figure out their issues before the All-Star break.
If the Pens can bring their scoring production with them from their last game at home, they should be in good shape against the Capitals. Pittsburgh poured on seven goals against the Florida Panthers, just enough goals to take a 7-6 overtime win.
Kris Letang made his return to the Pens blueline and scored two goals and added two assists in a triumphant comeback after being out since December 28. With Letang back, fellow veterans Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin had an extra bit of energy with one goal, two assist performances of their own.
The concern for the Pens will be that they allowed six goals of their own to the Panthers. Resting starting goalie Tristan Jarry until after the All-Star break, the team will need to step up in preventing goalscoring opportunities to better support Casey DeSmith.
Washington Capitals
The Capitals are competing with the Pens for third in the Metropolitan Division but the All-Star break couldn’t come sooner for a banged up group. But first they will have to step up to the challenge of an important game against Pittsburgh before getting their much needed recovery time.
Washington is without Tom Wilson, TJ Oshie and Nicklas Backstrom at the moment. The long list of absences couldn’t come at a worse possible time for the Capitals, who have won just three of their last six games dating back to January 6.
Not scoring enough goals has caused the Capitals the majority of their issues. 21 goals in those last nine games is not enough to get wins and stay in the playoff spots in the Metropolitan Division. Alex Ovechkin’s goal on Tuesday is a positive sign but they still only scored twice in a 3-2 loss.
Ovechkin’s production hasn’t been the issue as he has two goals and three assists his last five games played. The rest of the team around Ovechkin need to step up and provide additional scoring but that is easier said than done with Wilson, Oshie and Backstrom all absent.
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