{"id":435481,"date":"2023-12-20T09:54:00","date_gmt":"2023-12-20T14:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=435481"},"modified":"2023-12-20T09:54:00","modified_gmt":"2023-12-20T14:54:00","slug":"nhl-predictions-dec-20-islanders-vs-capitals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2023\/12\/20\/nhl-predictions-dec-20-islanders-vs-capitals\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL Predictions: Dec 20 w\/ New York Islanders vs Washington Capitals"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\u2019s featured game is the New York Islanders<\/a> vs Washington Capitals<\/a>. Be sure to check out more NHL predictions in the coming days.<\/p>\n

NHL Predictions<\/h2>\n

Detroit Red Wings vs Winnipeg Jets<\/h3>\n

Head-to-Head: Red Wings 0-1 Jets<\/h4>\n

TV:<\/strong> Sportsnet; Bally Sports Detroit; ESPN+<\/p>\n

Our first game of NHL predictions has the Detroit Red Wings<\/a> taking on the Winnipeg Jets<\/a>. Detroit has three straight losses and has been dealing with plenty of injuries. James Reimer<\/a> is the projected starter for the Red Wings, but always check social media before locking in a fantasy starter. Alex DeBrincat<\/a> reached the 400-point mark the other night. Detroit is fifth in goals allowed, but is 18th in goals allowed.<\/p>\n

Winnipeg will likely counter with Laurent Brossoit<\/a><\/span> in between the pipes. The Jets have points in their last three games, but lost to the Montreal Canadiens<\/a> in overtime the last time out. Other scorers are going to have to step up with Kyle Connor<\/a> being on the shelf for a bit. However, the team has good defensive structure and can play well in front of any goalie.<\/p>\n

Detroit is a walking wounded and Winnipeg should take advantage of that.<\/p>\n

Prediction: Jets win 3-1.<\/em><\/p>\n

New York Islanders vs Washington Capitals<\/h3>\n

Head-to-Head: Islanders 1-1 Capitals<\/h4>\n

TV:<\/strong> Monument Sports; TNT; Max<\/p>\n

Our featured game has the Islanders looking to get their second win in as many nights. The Isles defeated the Edmonton Oilers<\/a>, 3-1, on Tuesday night. Semyon Varlamov<\/a><\/span> is the likely starter after Ilya Sorokin<\/a> baffled the Oilers the night before. New York is 15th in goals for and goals allowed. However, the Islanders are fifth on the power play. Brock Nelson<\/a> leads in goals (15) while Noah Dobson<\/a> has the team lead in assists (28).<\/p>\n

Darcy Kuemper<\/a> is likely to get the call for the Capitals, who have won three of the last five games. Alex Ovechkin<\/a> has been struggling to score goals and his goalless drought is up to 12 games. Dylan Strome<\/a> (12 goals) and John Carlson<\/a> (14 assists) have been trying to pick up the slack. However, defence has been the way that the Capitals have been staying close in the Metropolitan Division.<\/p>\n

The Isles are coming off a back-to-back, but have just enough firepower to get the win.<\/p>\n

Prediction: Islanders win 3-2.<\/em><\/p>\n

Seattle Kraken vs Los Angeles Kings<\/h3>\n

Head-to-Head: TNT; Max; Bally Sports West<\/p>\n

Our last game of NHL predictions has the Seattle Kraken<\/a> and Los Angeles Kings<\/a> playing for the second time in four days. Los Angeles squeaked out a shootout win at Climate Pledge Arena on Sunday night. Joey Daccord<\/a> has seemingly taken the number one job in goal and will be the expected starter. Seattle is 25th in goals scored and 24th in goals allowed. Jared McCann<\/a> is the team’s leading goal-scorer with 14.<\/p>\n

Los Angeles is looking for his second win in as many night’s after beating the San Jose Sharks<\/a>. Cam Talbot<\/a> will likely get the start after David Rittich<\/a> played well against San Jose. The Kings are tops in goals allowed in the league with 66. Trevor Moore<\/a> is the team’s leader in goals with 15 this season.<\/p>\n

Back-to-Backs are tough to gauge, but the Kings should pick up the win against a team that has trouble scoring.<\/p>\n

Prediction: Kings win 4-1.<\/em><\/p>\n

Prop Bet of the Night<\/h3>\n

We go back to our featured game for our prop of the evening. The over\/under on many sites for the Isles and Capitals is six. We like the under because both teams have been solid on the defensive end this year.<\/p>\n

Main photo by: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports<\/em><\/p>\n

Ages 21+. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2352,"featured_media":433952,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4524,4547,17,4548,15],"tags":[6201,6028,6084,7170,6239,6110],"class_list":["post-435481","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nhl-predictions","category-hockey","category-islanders","category-nhl","category-capitals","tag-detroit-red-wings-predictions","tag-los-angeles-kings-predictions","tag-new-york-islanders-predictions","tag-seattle-kraken-predictions","tag-washington-capitals-predictions","tag-winnipeg-jets-predictions"],"modified_by":"Dan Mount, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435481","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2352"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=435481"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435481\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/433952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=435481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=435481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=435481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}