by Chuck Sommers
Saturday, Jan 21, 2023
Time: 10 p.m. ET
Venue: T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, NV
Where to watch: NBCSWA, ATTSN-RM
Opening Odds at USA Sportsbooks
DraftKings: Golden Knights -115, Capitals -105
FanDuel: Golden Knights -115, Capitals -105
BetMGM: Golden Knights -115, Capitals -105
Caesars: Golden Knights -115, Capitals -105
Season record
Capitals: 25-17-6
Golden Knights: 28-16-2
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 - Golden Knights preview, prediction and analysis
I'm not quite sure if this is the night of the Vegas Golden Knights actually win a game, but crazier things have happened as they wrap up a seven game homestand by hosting the Washington Capitals on Saturday.
It is truly quite astounding what is transpiring in Las Vegas right now. Mark stone is hurt and the golden Knights seemingly forgot how to play hockey. You can't make this up anymore if you even tried. The golden Knights have lost three straight games while being outscored 11 to 5, they have been outscored 20 to 15 during this run of a homestand that has been about as abysmal as one could imagine. Not to mention, Vegas has been favored in every single game of this homestand and has lost four times.
Thursday might have been the absolute worst game yet from Vegas after losing 3-2 to the Detroit Red Wings. Alex Pietrangelo scored a goal, as did William Karlsson, but for the middle part of the game and for the majority of the third period, Vegas could not generate anything offensively and looked like a horrendous team.
"Our effort needs to be better in certain areas of the ice. Eventually, we got to it tonight," Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said. "We've had passengers lately. Guys we rely on can be better. Timely saves could have made a difference.
Because of this recent string of play, Vegas is no longer first place in the Pacific division or the Western Conference. Vegas is barely hanging on by a thread and at this point is just hoping to get to the All-Star break and then come out of the break as healthy as can be. Because Lord knows they need it and there are at least some reinforcements that could potentially be on the way as they go to New York but right now it does not look promising.
And you know that anytime the capitals come to Vegas, it's always gonna be brought up about 2018. But the capitals will always celebrate the Stanley Cup no matter what transpires here. What we're on the discussion for now is Alex Ovechkin trying to surpass Wayne Gretzky as the greatest goal scorer of all time.
Redkin has not scored in three games, which of course you know means that he is bound to score one at some point given the magnitude of this game. Washington is coming off A4-0 victory over the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday and that was anchored by solid yet unmoving shut out from Darcy Kuemper.
"Really good, really good," Washington coach Peter Laviolette said of Kuemper. "Sometimes it's tough in those games where there's not a lot of volume and not that much coming at you. … But, at the end, they were pushing and pressing, he had to make some saves and I thought he looked really good."
Prediction
Vegas had a kid from make a wish show up at the practice facility on Friday and and if there was any other motivation needed in order to get a win before hitting the road, it's celebrating a child who is battling cystic fibrosis. No other reason than that. Golden Knights 4, Capitals 3
Betting trends
Capitals are 0-4 in their last 4 after allowing 2 goals or less in their previous game.
Favorite is 6-1 in the last 7 meetings.
Home team is 5-2 in the last 7 meetings.
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
Golden Knights:
Chandler Stephenson -- Jack Eichel -- Phil Kessel
Reilly Smith -- William Karlsson -- Jonathan Marchessault
Paul Cotter -- Nicolas Roy -- Keegan Kolesar
Michael Amadio -- Byron Froese -- Jonas Rondbjerg
Nicolas Hague -- Alex Pietrangelo
Brayden McNabb -- Kaeden Korczak
Alec Martinez -- Ben Hutton
Logan Thompson
Don't miss our champion handicappers' free picks and expert hockey picks today. And if you enjoyed this Washington Capitals - Vegas Golden Knights prediction, be sure to drop by every day for our daily NHL projections and previews.
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.
