Welcome back to another day of NHL Predictions. Each day, Last Word on Hockey takes a look at the games that are happening and gives our predictions for each one, breaking down head-to-head and other factors that may play in. We also have a featured game of the day, which is considered must-watch TV. Today’s featured game is the Washington Capitals vs Philadelphia Flyers.
NHL Predictions with Washington Capitals vs Philadelphia Flyers
Washington Capitals vs Philadelphia Flyers
Head-to-Head: Capitals 0-1 Flyers
After a questionable effort against the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday, the Capitals are in Philadelphia to take on the ever-hot Flyers. Since the firing of Alain Vigneault, the Flyers have played better hockey collecting points in their last five games. The Flyers have been lucky enough to get solid goaltending from bounceback of the year candidate Carter Hart. It’s a good thing they’ve got the goaltending or they would be in a worse spot as they’re by far the worst defensive team in the league.
The Capitals are an all-around good team who has been very hard to beat this season. The Flyers have quite a few flaws. They generate no offence, are beyond bad defensively and have one of the worst power plays in the NHL. As already mentioned, thank goodness for Carter Hart. The Capitals past five games have been slower as they collected two wins in five games. The Capitals have insane finishing ability which has put them in front of the league. The Flyers are getting what they deserve with their low ability to generate offence. After a tough loss to the Kings the Capitals and Alexander Ovechkin will look to get a bounce-back win on Tuesday.
Flyers win 3-2
Tampa Bay Lightning vs Vegas Golden Knights
Head-to-Head: Lightning 0-0 Golden Knights
As always for the past five seasons both Tampa and Vegas have continued to dominate into this season. Although both teams had a rough start to this season, they’re back to where everyone expected. Going into this game there are two reasons to be excited. The first reason is that Vegas’ defence is quite bad whereas Tampas offence is one of the best in the league. The second reason is the battle of the goaltenders. Both Robin Lehner and Andrei Vasilevskiy have had solid seasons sitting atop of the league in goals saved above expected (GSAX).
Another area of focus is special teams. The Golden Knights have both a bad power play and penalty kill whereas Tampa has a bad power play but solid penalty kill. This is a wide-open game. The Lightning have been led by their captain Steven Stamkos who is playing at a pace of 100 points in 82 games. On the Golden Knights we’ve seen Chandler Stephenson step up and lead their team in points. Someone to keep an eye on will be Max Pacioretty who has been heating up since returning from injury. Expect the Lightning to come out looking for a win vs the streaking Vegas Golden Knights.
Lightning win 3-1
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