by Chuck Sommers
Tuesday, Jan 24, 2023
Time: 9 p.m. ET
Venue: Ball Arena, Denver, CO
Where to watch: NBCSWA, ALT, SN1
Opening Odds at USA Sportsbooks
DraftKings: Avalanche -155, Capitals +135
FanDuel: Avalanche -155, Capitals +135
BetMGM: Avalanche -155, Capitals +135
Caesars: Avalanche -155, Capitals +135
Season record
Capitals: 25-18-6
Avalanche: 25-17-3
We’ve hit the halfway mark in the NHL season. Yes, you read that right. We’re really hit that halfway mark that quickly. If you blinked, you probably missed a lot of good things happen in the hockey world. And with football about to be out of the way, look for our champion handicappers to get back on the rink. Oskeim Sports is on a 13-5-0 run in the NHL over the last 30 days, as is Will Rogers. Sean Murphy has also cashed in with a 16-10-0 run in the last month. Make sure you’re following our champion handicappers at bigal.com to get on this winning action!
Capitals - Avalanche preview, prediction and analysis
The Washington Capitals will be playing the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday, January 24 in Denver, Colorado.
The Washington Capitals lost against the Vegas Golden Knights last Saturday, January 21 in Las Vegas, Nevada with a score of 6-2. The Washington Capitals currently rank 4th in the Metropolitan Division. T.J. Oshie and Marcus Johansson scored for the Capitals. Darcy Kuemper allowed four goals on 18 shots before being replaced in the second period by Charlie Lindgren, who made seven saves.
"I'm not going to get too much into it," Washington coach Peter Laviolette said. "We weren't good. They were the better team, and we'll get ready for the next one. There are things that we can go back and try to get better at."
The Capitals played without captain Alex Ovechkin, who did not take part in the morning skate and is day to day with a lower-body injury. Laviolette said was unsure whether Ovechkin would be able to return against the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday.
"There's always things that are going on with players," Laviolette said of Ovechkin's injury. "Alex is usually really durable, but this is something that he wasn't able to skate this morning and it took him out of the lineup tonight."
"We're not exactly in a super-comfortable position where we can have games like this right now, especially with [Ovechkin] not playing," Oshie said. "Usually you lose a guy like that it's next man up, everybody has to pull a little bit harder on the rope, and that wasn't the case tonight."
The Washington Capitals have won four of their last 10 games.
The Colorado Avalanche won against the Seattle Kraken last Saturday, January 21 in Seattle, Washington with a score of 2-1 in a shootout. The Colorado Avalanche currently rank 4th in the Central Division. Pavel Francouz made 26 saves and stopped all three attempts in the shootout for the Colorado Avalanche. Alex Newhook scored, and Nathan MacKinnon had the only goal in the shootout.
"Hard checking both ways," Avalanche forward Mikko Rantanen said. "Both 'D' were defending well, not a lot of chances out there, and that's pretty much what playoff games look like. Came through even though it was a second game with a back to back, so really big one."
Newhook gave the Avalanche a 1-0 lead at 8:18 of the second period, scoring on a rebound from the bottom of the right circle after Grubauer couldn't handle Jacob MacDonald's shot from the right point.
"It was a good hockey game. I mean, first in the Pacific, Seattle is playing really well," Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. "We've been playing really well lately. I like the way we played tonight. Effort wise, we did a lot of good things on a back to back. I'm pretty proud of our guys coming in here facing a tough team and fighting it out to the bitter end. An evenly matched game, obviously. Fitting that it goes to a shootout. I thought both goalies were really good."
Although the Kraken held the puck for almost the entire overtime period, the Avalanche had the best chance to win the game when Girard skated in on a breakaway at 1:59, but his chance went wide of the net.
"It was a fun game, fun game to be part of," Rantanen said. "Physical game, you know, not a lot of room out there, so have to give it to them. They're a really, really good team. We haven't seen them in 40 games or so. They're playing good hockey."
The Colorado Avalanche have won six of their last 10 games.
Prediction
The Washington Capitals lost against the Vegas Golden Knights last Saturday, January 21 in Las Vegas, Nevada with a score of 6-2. The Washington Capitals currently rank 4th in the Metropolitan Division. T.J. Oshie and Marcus Johansson scored for the Capitals. Darcy Kuemper allowed four goals on 18 shots before being replaced in the second period by Charlie Lindgren, who made seven saves.
"I'm not going to get too much into it," Washington coach Peter Laviolette said. "We weren't good. They were the better team, and we'll get ready for the next one. There are things that we can go back and try to get better at."
The Capitals played without captain Alex Ovechkin, who did not take part in the morning skate and is day to day with a lower-body injury. Laviolette said was unsure whether Ovechkin would be able to return against the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday.
"There's always things that are going on with players," Laviolette said of Ovechkin's injury. "Alex is usually really durable, but this is something that he wasn't able to skate this morning and it took him out of the lineup tonight."
"We're not exactly in a super-comfortable position where we can have games like this right now, especially with [Ovechkin] not playing," Oshie said. "Usually you lose a guy like that it's next man up, everybody has to pull a little bit harder on the rope, and that wasn't the case tonight."
The Washington Capitals have won four of their last 10 games.
The Colorado Avalanche won against the Seattle Kraken last Saturday, January 21 in Seattle, Washington with a score of 2-1 in a shootout. The Colorado Avalanche currently rank 4th in the Central Division. Pavel Francouz made 26 saves and stopped all three attempts in the shootout for the Colorado Avalanche. Alex Newhook scored, and Nathan MacKinnon had the only goal in the shootout.
"Hard checking both ways," Avalanche forward Mikko Rantanen said. "Both 'D' were defending well, not a lot of chances out there, and that's pretty much what playoff games look like. Came through even though it was a second game with a back to back, so really big one."
Newhook gave the Avalanche a 1-0 lead at 8:18 of the second period, scoring on a rebound from the bottom of the right circle after Grubauer couldn't handle Jacob MacDonald's shot from the right point.
"It was a good hockey game. I mean, first in the Pacific, Seattle is playing really well," Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. "We've been playing really well lately. I like the way we played tonight. Effort wise, we did a lot of good things on a back to back. I'm pretty proud of our guys coming in here facing a tough team and fighting it out to the bitter end. An evenly matched game, obviously. Fitting that it goes to a shootout. I thought both goalies were really good."
Although the Kraken held the puck for almost the entire overtime period, the Avalanche had the best chance to win the game when Girard skated in on a breakaway at 1:59, but his chance went wide of the net.
"It was a fun game, fun game to be part of," Rantanen said. "Physical game, you know, not a lot of room out there, so have to give it to them. They're a really, really good team. We haven't seen them in 40 games or so. They're playing good hockey."
The Colorado Avalanche have won six of their last 10 games.
Prediction
The Avs might not be back yet, but this will be a good game to do that. Avs 4, Caps 3
Betting trends
Capitals have won six of the last seven in Colorado.
Capitals have won 12 of the last 15 meetings.
Over is 4-0 in Avs' last four against Eastern Conference teams.
Capitals have won six of the last seven in Colorado.
Capitals have won 12 of the last 15 meetings.
Over is 4-0 in Avs' last four against Eastern Conference teams.
Projected lines
Capitals:
Alex Ovechkin -- Dylan Strome -- Nicolas Aube-Kubel,
Sonny Milano -- Nicklas Backstrom -- Tom Wilson
Conor Sheary -- Lars Eller -- T.J. Oshie
Marcus Johansson -- Evgeny Kuznetsov -- Garnet Hathaway
Erik Gustafsson -- Trevor van Riemsdyk
Dmitry Orlov -- Nick Jensen
Alexander Alexeyev -- Martin Fehervary
Darcy Kuemper
Alex Ovechkin -- Dylan Strome -- Nicolas Aube-Kubel,
Sonny Milano -- Nicklas Backstrom -- Tom Wilson
Conor Sheary -- Lars Eller -- T.J. Oshie
Marcus Johansson -- Evgeny Kuznetsov -- Garnet Hathaway
Erik Gustafsson -- Trevor van Riemsdyk
Dmitry Orlov -- Nick Jensen
Alexander Alexeyev -- Martin Fehervary
Darcy Kuemper
Avalanche:
Artturi Lehkonen -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Evan Rodrigues
Valeri Nichushkin -- J.T. Compher -- Mikko Rantanen
Andrew Cogliano -- Alex Newhook -- Logan O'Connor
Anton Blidh -- Ben Meyers
Devon Toews -- Erik Johnson
Samuel Girard -- Andreas Englund
Kurtis MacDermid -- Brad Hunt
Jacob MacDonald
Alexandar Georgiev
Artturi Lehkonen -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Evan Rodrigues
Valeri Nichushkin -- J.T. Compher -- Mikko Rantanen
Andrew Cogliano -- Alex Newhook -- Logan O'Connor
Anton Blidh -- Ben Meyers
Devon Toews -- Erik Johnson
Samuel Girard -- Andreas Englund
Kurtis MacDermid -- Brad Hunt
Jacob MacDonald
Alexandar Georgiev
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Chuck Sommers
About the Author:
Chuck Sommers has camped outside of sportsbooks since he can remember, learning the tricks and nuances of the trade. He still has nightmares of betting $5,000 on the Raiders in the Tuck Rule game but has since turned that to 25 years of veteran handicapping greatness. You can find him mostly in the shadows at the Red Rock or Aliante casinos wondering if the over is cashing on any given Sunday.
