Colorado Avalanche vs. Washington Capitals: Prediction, Preview, Picks & Odds - 11/19/2022

Time: 7 p.m. ET

Venue: Capital One Arena, Washington, DC

Where to watch: NBCSWA, ALT

DraftKings: Avalanche -130, Capitals +110

FanDuel: Avalanche -138, Capitals +115

BetMGM: Avalanche -143, Capitals +120

Caesars: Avalanche -135, Capitals +115

Avalanche: 9-5-1 (19 points)

Capitals: 7-9-3 (17 points)

Avalanche: won 3-2 (OT) at Hurricanes on Thursday

Capitals: lost 5-4 (SO) at Blues on Thursday

The Colorado Avalanche’s cap hell wound up being worth it after winning the Stanley Cup last year, but it did cost them in terms of bringing back one of their key contributors. As a result, that man is now in Washington and Darcy Kuemper will try to get his revenge on his former team when the Capitals host the Avs on Saturday.

Kuemper went 37-12-4 in his one and only season with the Avalanche, of course leading them in net to win the Stanley Cup. When the Avs couldn’t find the money to bring him back, Kuemper went on to sign a five-year, $25 million contract with the Capitals. In turn, the Avs traded for Alexandar Georgiev from the New York Rangers.

It’s been a rough go as of late for Kuemper, losing five of his last six starts despite his numbers looking very respectable (5-8-1, 2.73 GAA, .911 SV%). The Capitals, however, are coming off a 5-4 loss in a shootout to the St. Louis Blues that pushed the Capitals to 7-9-3 to start the year.

Alex Ovechkin scored his 789th NHL goal, and John Carlson added two more, but it was just another tough loss for Washington who went with Charlie Lindgren in net that night. Kuemper, of course, was held to get the start in this one.

"Obviously it's a tough start," Ovechkin said. "You go [down] 3-0 after the first, but you can see the boys didn't give up, played hard. I think last two periods like previous game against Florida (a 5-2 loss Tuesday), we didn't start well but then we start pushing and have a chance to bounce back and win the game."

The Capitals have been dealing with a number of injuries that have led to this tough start, but they still have enough offensive firepower with Ovechkin and co. to keep them in the playoff race. Again, it’s still early, so not a lot is going completely wrong right now. And if there was a time for a goalie revenge game for Kuemper, it’d be this one.

But facing the Avalanche is no joking matter when Colorado is humming at an all-time high right now. The Avs have won five of six and are coming off a 3-2 overtime win against the Carolina Hurricanes. That part is not all that surprising. What’s ridiculous in this whole scenario is Colorado was outshot by Carolina 48-16 and the Avs still won. FORTY-EIGHT TO SIXTEEN WHAT KIND OF FRESH HELL ARE WE IN HERE?

Pavel Francouz saved the day with 46 saves.

"Everyone on the bench is aware we are getting outplayed for the better part of the night," Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. "You're going to need your goalie to hang in there and make some big saves for us, and that's what he did tonight. He got us that win, no question."

Offensively, it’s been insane for Colorado as of late. Mikko Rantanen has 10 points in five games, Nathan MacKinnon has seven assists in five games. Things are going just lovely for the defending champs, especially with that top line. The fact they’ve been able to secure some good wins out of it is good.

I believe in the goalie revenge game. Not that Colorado hasn’t been good in net, but Kuemper has had this circled for a while. I think Washington snaps the 3-game losing streak and gets a win here. Capitals win 3-2

Capitals are 123-100 after losing 4 of 5 since 1996.

Capitals are 41-38 after failing to cover in 8 of 10 since 1996.

Capitals are 118-98 after failing to cover in 3 or more consecutive games since 1996.

Avalanche:

Artturi Lehkonen -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Mikko Rantanen

Alex Newhook -- Evan Rodrigues -- Martin Kaut

Andrew Cogliano -- J.T. Compher -- Logan O'Connor

Anton Blidh -- Jayson Megna -- Dryden Hunt

Devon Toews -- Cale Makar

Jacob MacDonald -- Josh Manson

Andreas Englund -- Erik Johnson

Alexandar Georgiev

Capitals:

Alex Ovechkin -- Evgeny Kuznetsov -- Aliaksei Protas

Sonny Milano -- Dylan Strome -- Conor Sheary

Connor McMichael -- Lars Eller -- Anthony Mantha

Marcus Johansson -- Nic Dowd -- Garnet Hathaway

Erik Gustafsson -- John Carlson

Martin Fehervary -- Nick Jensen

Matt Irwin -- Trevor van Riemsdyk

Darcy Kuemper

Points: Mikko Rantanen -- 25

Goals: Mikko Rantanen -- 11

Assists: Nathan MacKinnon -- 20

Goalie: Alexandar Georgiev -- 7-2-1, 2.70 GAA, .924 SV%

Points: Alex Ovechkin -- 17

Goals: Alex Ovechkin -- 9

Assists: Evgeny Kuznetsov -- 12

Goalie: Darcy Kuemper -- 5-8-2, 2.74 GAA, .911 SV%