by Chuck Sommers
Sunday, Jan 29, 2023
Time: 5 p.m. ET
Venue: Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, ON
Where to watch: TSN4, NBCSWA, NHL Network
Opening Odds at USA Sportsbooks
DraftKings: Maple Leafs -140, Capitals +120
FanDuel: Maple Leafs -144, Capitals +120
BetMGM: Maple Leafs -145, Capitals +120
Caesars: Maple Leafs -141, Capitals +118
Season record
Capitals: 26-19-6
Maple Leafs: 30-12-8
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 - Maple Leafs preview, prediction and analysis
Recent results
Capitals: won 3-2 (SO) vs. Penguins
Maple Leafs: lost 6-2 vs. Senators
The Washington Capitals will be playing the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday, January 29 in Toronto.
The Washington Capitals won against the Pittsburgh Penguins last Thursday, January 26 at Capital One Arena in Washington with a score of 3-2 in a shoot out. The Washington Capitals currently rank 4th in the Metropolitan Division.
Alex Ovechkin and Marcus Johansson scored in regulation for the Capitals (26-19-6), who had lost two straight. They moved one point ahead of Pittsburgh for the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference. Darcy Kuemper made 35 saves.
"It was a huge two points for us. That's not really a secret. We knew how big this game was coming into it," Kuemper said. "These games feel really good when you get the job done. We played super hard, and we earned it tonight."
Kuemper stopped two of three shots during the shootout, allowing Rickard Rakell's goal in the first round and denying Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Evgeny Kuznetsov and Nicklas Backstrom scored shootout goals for Washington.
"It's always these kind of games against Pittsburgh. It's fun game to play because there's a lot of emotion out there," Backstrom said. "It was actually a great hockey game, I think, overall."
Ovechkin gave Washington a 1-0 lead at 6:00 of the first period with a power-play goal. He scored on a one-timer from the left face-off circle off a cross-ice pass from Kuznetsov.
Johansson gave the Capitals a 2-1 lead at 5:17 of the third period when he received a drop pass from Backstrom and scored to the far side with a wrist shot from the top of the left circle.
"It was a great played by Nick and I just tried to get as much ice as possible before I shot it, and I think it got lucky bounce and nicked off of [defenseman Brian Dumoulin], but I'll take it," Johansson said.
The Washington Capitals have won four of their last 10 games.
The Toronto Maple Leafs lost against the Ottowa Senators on Friday, January 27 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto with a score of 6-2. The Toronto Maple Leafs currently rank 2nd in the Atlantic Division.
Joey Anderson and William Nylander scored, and Ilya Samsonov made 28 saves for the Maple Leafs.
"We played good in the first period, and then we just fell away from that," Nylander said. "We didn't win our battles and let them take over the game.
"For sure I think we took our foot off the gas. I mean, that's unacceptable. So, we've got to work on that. That's something we've got to improve on."
Samsonov's fifth start in a row was unexpected after coach Sheldon Keefe confirmed following the morning skate that Matt Murray would start his first game since being pulled Jan. 17, when he allowed four goals on eight shots in a 5-4 overtime win the Florida Panthers.
"He's been dealing with something that flared up on him tonight, so he wasn't available
to play," Keefe said.
Murray remained on the bench as the backup throughout the game, though Keefe said Murray would not have been able to play if needed and that Toronto would have had to go to an emergency backup goalie. Keefe said the issue is not related to the adductor injury that kept Murray out 12 games from Oct. 15 to Nov. 8.
The coach said it was unclear whether Murray would be sidelined further and that there would be an update Saturday.
"You can't lose like that on home ice," Keefe said. "You can't have a goalie who has been giving us absolutely everything and comes in in a tough spot and then you have a performance like that in front of him in the second and third period, you can't have that. It should eat at us but we'll forget about it because we practice tomorrow and then another game coming, and in a couple weeks' time we won't remember anything about this. But in the moment here, there are some things for us to learn about for sure."
The Maple Leafs were without center Auston Matthews, who will be out a minimum of three weeks with a knee sprain sustained in a 3-2 overtime win against the New York Rangers on Wednesday. Matthews is third on Toronto with 53 points and second with 25 goals.
Anderson tied it 1-1 at 7:15 when he received a pass from Alexander Kerfoot and shot from the left dot.
Nylander tied it 2-2 at 2:44 when he jammed in a loose puck behind Forsberg on the power play, scoring the final goal this game for the Maple Leafs.
"It's hard maybe coming in like that," Nylander said of Samsonov's surprise start. "I think he made a lot of good saves, but we just weren't there to help him out tonight."
"I think you can look at the effort to a certain extent, you can look at execution, turnovers," Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly said. "There's lots of things that we didn't do well tonight and lots of areas where we lost to them, not just on the score sheet. It's an opportunity to learn from it. We've got two more [games] between now and the [All-Star] break, so we've got to make sure we get better and execute."
Prediction
This is bound to be a very tough time for the Maple Leafs. This could really turn Samsonov's Vezina candidacy into a wild ride if they start winning without Matthews, or even Mitch Marner goes on a Hart Trophy run. But this is going to be wild for a bit. Capitals 4, Maple Leafs 2
The Washington Capitals will be playing the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday, January 29 in Toronto.
The Washington Capitals won against the Pittsburgh Penguins last Thursday, January 26 at Capital One Arena in Washington with a score of 3-2 in a shoot out. The Washington Capitals currently rank 4th in the Metropolitan Division.
Alex Ovechkin and Marcus Johansson scored in regulation for the Capitals (26-19-6), who had lost two straight. They moved one point ahead of Pittsburgh for the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference. Darcy Kuemper made 35 saves.
"It was a huge two points for us. That's not really a secret. We knew how big this game was coming into it," Kuemper said. "These games feel really good when you get the job done. We played super hard, and we earned it tonight."
Kuemper stopped two of three shots during the shootout, allowing Rickard Rakell's goal in the first round and denying Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Evgeny Kuznetsov and Nicklas Backstrom scored shootout goals for Washington.
"It's always these kind of games against Pittsburgh. It's fun game to play because there's a lot of emotion out there," Backstrom said. "It was actually a great hockey game, I think, overall."
Ovechkin gave Washington a 1-0 lead at 6:00 of the first period with a power-play goal. He scored on a one-timer from the left face-off circle off a cross-ice pass from Kuznetsov.
Johansson gave the Capitals a 2-1 lead at 5:17 of the third period when he received a drop pass from Backstrom and scored to the far side with a wrist shot from the top of the left circle.
"It was a great played by Nick and I just tried to get as much ice as possible before I shot it, and I think it got lucky bounce and nicked off of [defenseman Brian Dumoulin], but I'll take it," Johansson said.
The Washington Capitals have won four of their last 10 games.
The Toronto Maple Leafs lost against the Ottowa Senators on Friday, January 27 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto with a score of 6-2. The Toronto Maple Leafs currently rank 2nd in the Atlantic Division.
Joey Anderson and William Nylander scored, and Ilya Samsonov made 28 saves for the Maple Leafs.
"We played good in the first period, and then we just fell away from that," Nylander said. "We didn't win our battles and let them take over the game.
"For sure I think we took our foot off the gas. I mean, that's unacceptable. So, we've got to work on that. That's something we've got to improve on."
Samsonov's fifth start in a row was unexpected after coach Sheldon Keefe confirmed following the morning skate that Matt Murray would start his first game since being pulled Jan. 17, when he allowed four goals on eight shots in a 5-4 overtime win the Florida Panthers.
"He's been dealing with something that flared up on him tonight, so he wasn't available
to play," Keefe said.
Murray remained on the bench as the backup throughout the game, though Keefe said Murray would not have been able to play if needed and that Toronto would have had to go to an emergency backup goalie. Keefe said the issue is not related to the adductor injury that kept Murray out 12 games from Oct. 15 to Nov. 8.
The coach said it was unclear whether Murray would be sidelined further and that there would be an update Saturday.
"You can't lose like that on home ice," Keefe said. "You can't have a goalie who has been giving us absolutely everything and comes in in a tough spot and then you have a performance like that in front of him in the second and third period, you can't have that. It should eat at us but we'll forget about it because we practice tomorrow and then another game coming, and in a couple weeks' time we won't remember anything about this. But in the moment here, there are some things for us to learn about for sure."
The Maple Leafs were without center Auston Matthews, who will be out a minimum of three weeks with a knee sprain sustained in a 3-2 overtime win against the New York Rangers on Wednesday. Matthews is third on Toronto with 53 points and second with 25 goals.
Anderson tied it 1-1 at 7:15 when he received a pass from Alexander Kerfoot and shot from the left dot.
Nylander tied it 2-2 at 2:44 when he jammed in a loose puck behind Forsberg on the power play, scoring the final goal this game for the Maple Leafs.
"It's hard maybe coming in like that," Nylander said of Samsonov's surprise start. "I think he made a lot of good saves, but we just weren't there to help him out tonight."
"I think you can look at the effort to a certain extent, you can look at execution, turnovers," Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly said. "There's lots of things that we didn't do well tonight and lots of areas where we lost to them, not just on the score sheet. It's an opportunity to learn from it. We've got two more [games] between now and the [All-Star] break, so we've got to make sure we get better and execute."
Prediction
This is bound to be a very tough time for the Maple Leafs. This could really turn Samsonov's Vezina candidacy into a wild ride if they start winning without Matthews, or even Mitch Marner goes on a Hart Trophy run. But this is going to be wild for a bit. Capitals 4, Maple Leafs 2
Betting trends
Capitals are 17-11 off an under this season.
Capitals are 16-8 after playing a home game this season.
Maple Leafs are 9-3 after a division game this year.
Projected lines
Capitals:
Alex Ovechkin -- Dylan Strome -- T.J. Oshie
Conor Sheary -- Evgeny Kuznetsov -- Anthony Mantha
Sonny Milano -- Nicklas Backstrom -- Marcus Johansson
Nicolas Aube-Kubel -- Lars Eller -- Garnet Hathaway
Erik Gustafsson -- Trevor van Riemsdyk
Dmitry Orlov -- Nick Jensen
Matt Irwin -- Martin Fehervary
Darcy Kuemper
Alex Ovechkin -- Dylan Strome -- T.J. Oshie
Conor Sheary -- Evgeny Kuznetsov -- Anthony Mantha
Sonny Milano -- Nicklas Backstrom -- Marcus Johansson
Nicolas Aube-Kubel -- Lars Eller -- Garnet Hathaway
Erik Gustafsson -- Trevor van Riemsdyk
Dmitry Orlov -- Nick Jensen
Matt Irwin -- Martin Fehervary
Darcy Kuemper
Maple Leafs:
Michael Bunting -- John Tavares -- Mitchell Marner
Calle Jarnkrok -- Alexander Kerfoot -- William Nylander
Pierre Engvall -- David Kampf -- Joey Anderson
Zach Aston-Reese -- Pontus Holmberg -- Wayne Simmonds
Morgan Rielly -- TJ Brodie
Mark Giordano -- Justin Holl
Rasmus Sandin -- Timothy Liljegren
Ilya Samsonov
Michael Bunting -- John Tavares -- Mitchell Marner
Calle Jarnkrok -- Alexander Kerfoot -- William Nylander
Pierre Engvall -- David Kampf -- Joey Anderson
Zach Aston-Reese -- Pontus Holmberg -- Wayne Simmonds
Morgan Rielly -- TJ Brodie
Mark Giordano -- Justin Holl
Rasmus Sandin -- Timothy Liljegren
Ilya Samsonov
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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.
