Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals will be looking for some revenge when they hit the road to take on Sunday Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night. Washington suffered its first loss of the season by losing to Pittsburgh on Sunday. Now, the Penguins are looking to even its record after getting off to an 0-2 start.
Will the Caps get their revenge to cash in as the online betting road pick or will Pittsburgh take care of business as the sportsbook betting pick at home?
Let’s find out now what the likely scenario is when these longtime rivals throw down on Tuesday night, First though, let’s take a look at all of the NHL odds for opening night in Steeltown.
Washington Capitals at Pittsburgh Penguins
When: Tuesday, January 19, 2021 at 7:00 PM ET
Where: PPG Paints Arena, Pittsburgh, PA
TV: NBCSN
Ovechkin, Caps, Up To High-Scoring Ways
Alexander Ovechkin and the Caps are up to their high-scoring ways right out of the gate, NHL betting buffs! Washington overpowered Buffalo 6-4 in its regular season opener on Thursday and backed that up with a hard-fought 2-1 win over the Sabres the next night.
The Capitals suffered their first loss of the season by narrowly falling to Pittsburgh 4-3 in a shootout on Sunday. Alex Ovechkin scored his first goal of the season in the loss while dishing out his third assist.
Washington ranks eighth in scoring at 4.0 goals per game while ranking a solid 14th in goals allowed (2.5 gpg). Ovechkin has a goal and three assists while Nicklas Backstrom has added two goals and two assists including a goal against Pittsburgh. The bad news is that net-minder Ilya Samsonov has an ugly 3.36 goals against average heading into Tuesday night’s matchup.
Check Out the 2021 Hart Memorial NHL MVP Odds.
Pens Need to Get Defensive
Pittsburgh got embarrassed in its first two games of the season by losing to Philadelphia 6-3 in its opener on Wednesday and losing to the Flyers again 5-2 two nights later. The Penguins got the win over Washington on Sunday night as Evan Rodrigues, Colton Sceviour and Marcus Pettersson all lit the lamp before Pittsburgh closed it out on Jake Guentzel’s shootout goal.
Still, defense has been a problem for Pittsburgh through three games. The Penguins are averaging a modest 2.5 goals per game (18th) but are giving up a whopping 5.5 goals per game to rank dead last (32nd) in goals allowed.
Expert Analysis and Prediction
I know Pittsburgh pulled out the much-needed win on Sunday night, but the Penguins need to shore up its lackluster defense in the worst way. These two longtime rivals have split their last 10 meetings evenly, but Pittsburgh is 3-7 over its last 10 games dating back to last season.
With that said, the Over looks like the best pick in this matchup seeing as how the Over is 5-0 in the last five meetings and 4-0 in the last four meetings in Pittsburgh. Washington has been one of the best offensive teams in all of hockey for several years now and the 2018 Stanley Cup champions have looked infinitely better than Pittsburgh through three games. I’m going with the Caps to get it done in another high-scoring affair.
Washington Capitals at Pittsburgh Penguins Pick
Capitals 5 Penguins 3
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