The Washington Capitals and the New York Islanders are both hot on the heels of the New York Rangers for the No. 3 spot in the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference, which is also why Monday night’s showdown between the Caps and the Isles at UBS Arena should have extra spice on it. The Capitals are 23-16-6 (52 points), while the Islanders are 23-16-3 (49 points). With all that being said, let’s now take a look at our NHL odds series plus our Capitals-Islanders prediction for this showdown scheduled at 7:00 PM ET.
Here are the Capitals-Islanders NHL odds, courtesy of FanDuel
NHL Odds: Capitals -Islanders Odds
Washington Capitals: +1.5 (-265)
New York Islanders: -1.5 (+210)
Over: 5.5 (-122)
Under: 5.5 (+100)
How To Watch Capitals -Islanders
TV: ESPN+
Stream: ESPN+
Time: 7:30 ET/4:30 PT
*Watch NHL games LIVE with fuboTV (click for a free trial)*
Why The Capitals Could Cover The Spread
Washington got embarrassed in its last two outings by the Philadelphia Flyers. First, the Caps lost to Philly on the road on Jan. 11 to the tune of a 5-3 score and then again to the same team on Jan. 15 at home, 3-1. The Capitals dropped both those games against Philadelphia despite managing to avoid losing possessions in either contest. In fact, they posted a 66.4 CF% (5-on-5) in their most recent outing. It's just that they aren't finding the back of the net as often as their scoring chances figures suggest. In other words, there aren't many Washington players who have been as productive at least offensively as the Great Eight.
Over the last 10 Capitals games, Alex Ovechkin has netted a total of 10 goals and an assist. No other Caps forward or defender has scored more than three goals over the same stretch. So far this season, Ovechkin has scored 30 goals, nearly three times more than Conor Sheary's and Marcus Johansson's productions of 11 goals apiece — second overall on the team. Perhaps, the Capitals' attack will finally wake up later tonight versus the Islanders, who have surrendered at least three goals in three of their last five outings. Playing on the road versus the Islanders has usually meant success for Washington in the past several meetings of these two teams.
In the last 13 times that the Caps visited New York, they have come away with a total of nine victories. The Capitals are also fifth in the NHL so far in the 2022-23 NHL regular season with a 5-on-5 high-danger scoring chance rate (54.5%). In front of the goal for the Capitals versus New York is likely to be 32-year-old Darcy Kuemper, who started in the aforementioned losses for the Flyers. He has a 12-11-4 record in 28 starts this season, to go with a .018 SV% and 2.54 GA/G. If the Capitals want to change it up a bit, they'd go with Charlie Lindgren, who's gone 4-1 with a .919 SV% and just 1.1 GA/G in his last five starts.
Why The Islanders Could Cover The Spread
At last, the Islanders broke out of their slump with a 2-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens at home last Saturday. Prior to that, the Isles went 0-3-1 over the course of four games. Beating the Habs isn't really much of an accomplishment to brag about for any team this season, but at least that gets the Islanders back on track. Anthony Beauvillier and Casey Cizikas scored a goal apiece for the Islanders in that contest, which was a good sign for the team's secondary lines which need to get more involved in helping New York's offense.
Matthew Barzal and Anders Lee have been mostly responsible for carrying the load in scoring over the past several games for New York. Barzal has six goals and two assists in the last 10 games, while Lee netted four goals to go with a pair of helpers over the same stretch. Whether the Islanders bring it on offense or not, they are almost always assured of elite play between the pipes from goalie Ilya Sorokin, who has been one of the best in the business this season. Sorokin will carry a 15-14-2 record to tonight's matchup against the Capitals. It’s worth reiterating that the Isles are the home team tonight because Sorkin has a 9-7 record with a .941 SV% and 1.76 GA/G in 17 starts at UBS Arena in the 2022-23 NHL regular season.
Regardless of location, Sorokin has a 2.25 GA/G and .927 SV% this season, third and second-best overall in the league. He's not the ideal goalie to face for the Capitals who are looking to end a cold spell offensively. Among netminders with at least 20 appearances on the ice this season, Sorokin is second with 23.2 goals saved above expected and also second in save percentage above expected (0.012), per Money Puck. As a team, the Islanders are 4-0 in their last four games versus Eastern Conference teams and 9-3 in their last 12 against rivals from the Metropolitan division.
Final Capitals-Islanders Prediction & Pick
Both teams have excellent goalies and cold offenses of late. The money line pick here is on the Capitals, but the odds just don’t look appealing. We’d go with the Under for this Capitals-Islanders matchup.
Final Capitals-Islanders Prediction & Pick: Under 5.5 (+100)
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