NHL Odds, Expert Pick & Prediction: Capitals vs. Panthers (Tuesday, November 15)

Capitals vs. Panthers Odds

The Washington Capitals and Florida Panthers are set to meet for the first time since their playoff series last year when the Panthers knocked off the Capitals in six games.

Both of these teams are coming off of losses, so they will be hungry in this one to get back in the win column. The Panthers have been very good on home ice thus far this season, skating to a 4-1-1 record in their barn. The Capitals have not been as successful on the road, sporting a 2-5-1 record away from home.

The Cats have won three out of their last four games, and they deserved a better result in their previous game, losing 4-2 to the Edmonton Oilers, but they were the better team.

The Capitals are having a ton of issues staying healthy, and the Panthers should be able to outplay them on their home ice.

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Capitals Are Competitive … But Unreliable

The Capitals have managed to find ways to be competitive every night despite missing a ton of their most important players. The struggles might be most evident with their power play. They haven't scored a goal on the man advantage in their last three games on a total of 16 attempts. 

Washington is by no means a bad team; that being said, they have become a very inconsistent team. You aren't sure what kind of results you're going to get from them on any given night. As usual, Alexander Ovechkin is leading the team with 14 points in 17 games, but he is an alarming -14 on the season, and the team as a whole has a -8.35 expected goal differential.

Bottom line is, the Caps aren't very reliable right now. Darcy Kuemper got yanked in the team's last game against the Tampa Bay Lightning after allowing four goals against just nine shots. It is uncertain who will start in goal for them, but whether they go with Kuemper or Charlie Lindgren, the Panthers will have the edge in goal.

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Panthers on the Prowl

The Florida Panthers haven't been as offensively electric as they were last season, but this is still a very good hockey team. Matthew Tkachuk has made a very positive impact on his new team thus far, leading them in points with five goals and 12 assists in 13 games.

Unlike Washington's man-advantage unit, the Panthers have scored power play goals in their last four consecutive games, converting on five of 15 total chances. The Panthers haven't had many issues offensively this season; they are currently boasting a +14.09 expected goal differential and a 56.14% expected goals percentage.

Spencer Knight has been the better of the goaltending tandem between him and Sergei Bobrovsky. Knight has started the last three games, winning two out of those three starts and this season he is sporting a record of 5-2-0 with a .922 SV% and a 2.31 GAA. Knight is the expected starter for this game, but there is definitely a chance that we see Bobrovsky in the cage.

Capitals vs. Panthers Pick

The Capitals haven't had a ton of success in their recent trips to Florida dating back to last season. Seeing that this year's Capitals team isn't remotely healthy, I only see those struggles continuing. They are 1-4 in their last five games on the road against the Panthers, and they haven't looked very strong on the road this season in general.

Even though the Panthers only scored two goals in their previous contest, they managed to have 3.47 expected goals along with 42 shots on goal, a category in which they are leading the league, averaging 40.3 shots on goal per game.

The Panthers are going to challenge the Capitals tonight and I am not sure that Washington will be strong enough to overcome it. I think the Panthers continue their strong play at home and win this game in regulation.

Pick: Florida Panthers 3-way (-120)