New Jersey Devils at Washington Capitals odds, picks and predictions
The New Jersey Devils (19-14-2) take on the Washington Capitals (18-11-6) Wednesday at Capital One Arena. Puck drop is set for 7:30 p.m. ET (TNT). Below, we analyze BetMGM Sportsbook's lines around the Devils vs. Capitals odds, and make our expert NHL picks and predictions.
Jersey fell 5-2 to the Boston Bruins Saturday. The loss snapped a 3-game winning streak for the Devils. They are sitting a couple of points out of a playoff spot at the halfway point. C Jack Hughes leads the club with 44 points (15 goals, 29 assists) and has developed into a superstar.
The Caps are coming off a 4-3 win in Pittsburgh Tuesday night. They roared out of the gates with 4 goals in the 1st period and held on. LW Alex Ovechkin is heating up with his 2nd goal in as many games after just 6 in his 1st 35 of the season. The Caps have defeated the Devils twice this season, 6-4 and 4-2.
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Devils at Capitals odds
Provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access Paste BN Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 9:40 a.m. ET.
- Moneyline (ML): Devils -165 (bet $165 to win $100) | Capitals +140 (bet $100 to win $140)
- Puck line (PL)/Against the spread (ATS): Devils -1.5 (+140) | Capitals +1.5 (-165)
- Over/Under (O/U): 6.5 (O: -110 | U: -110)
Devils at Capitals projected goalies
Vitek Vanecek (13-7-1, 3.35 GAA, .883 SV%) vs. Hunter Shepard (2-0-1, 2.27 GAA, .926 SV%)
Vanecek has had a rough go of it, allowing 5 goals on 31 shots in his last start. It was the 5th time in 8 December games that he allowed 3+ goals. He played in both losses to the Caps this season, 1 start (in which he was pulled) and 1 in relief, and he allowed 4 goals on 21 shots.
Shepard figures to go with Darcy Kuemper playing last night, and Charlie Lindgren out with an upper-body injury. Shepard was great in a 3-2 shootout loss to the Nashville Predators Saturday. He stopped 34 of 36 shots. The 28-year-old's only 3 NHL starts have come this season.
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Devils at Capitals picks and predictions
Prediction
Devils 5, Capitals 2
Moneyline
The Capitals have a couple of things working against them in this one with an inexperienced goalie between the pipes and having beaten the Devils twice already. Hughes is on a 4-game point streak, and he had 3 assists in the 1 game he played against Washington this year.
The -165 is a little pricey, and I don't see this being a 2-1 victory. So package the DEVILS ML + OVER 4.5 GOALS (-105) at a better price.
Puck line/Against the spread
The Devils are just 9-26 on the PL this season. And while we're projecting a multi-goal victory, I'm steering clear of this one.
PASS.
Over/Under
As mentioned, I don't see this as a low-scoring affair. Two of the last 3 meetings had 7+ goals, and the one that didn't had 6, and Hughes was injured for it. Jersey's goalie has one of the higher GAAs among starting goalies, and Washington is throwing a rookie into the fire with 3 career NHL starts.
Go OVER 6.5 (-110).
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