{"id":466927,"date":"2025-04-17T11:10:44","date_gmt":"2025-04-17T15:10:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=466927"},"modified":"2025-04-17T11:11:11","modified_gmt":"2025-04-17T15:11:11","slug":"nhl-predictions-capitals-vs-penguins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2025\/04\/17\/nhl-predictions-capitals-vs-penguins\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL Predictions: April 17th Washington Capitals at Pittsburgh Penguins"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Pittsburgh Penguins<\/a> conclude their 2024\u201325 season on home ice tonight, hosting the Washington Capitals<\/a> at PPG Paints Arena. Welcome back to NHL Prediction<\/a>s here on\u00a0Last Word on Hockey!<\/em>\u00a0Each day, we provide in-depth analysis, insights, and predictions for all the NHL\u2019s games. In today’s matchup, the Penguins aim to finish their season on a high note, while the Capitals look to maintain momentum gearing up for the playoffs.\u200b<\/p>\n

NHL Predictions<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Washington Capitals vs. Pittsburgh Penguins<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Head-to-Head:<\/strong> Capitals 2\u20131 Penguins<\/h4>\n

Time:<\/strong> 7:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT)<\/p>\n

TV:<\/strong>\u00a0ESPN, Sportsnet+<\/p>\n

This is the fourth and final meeting<\/a> between the Capitals and Penguins this season.\u00a0Pittsburgh won the first matchup 4\u20132 on November 8, while Washington took the next two games 4-1 and 8-3.\u00a0The Capitals have already clinched the Metropolitan Division title, while the Penguins are playing for pride in their season finale.<\/p>\n

\u200b The Penguins\u2019 Story<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Heading into the final game of the season, Pittsburgh is 33-36-12. This record places them fourth-last in the Eastern Conference, and eighth-last in the league. With just one game left in the season, the most Pittsburgh can improve their standing is ninth-lowest in the league, potentially passing the Anaheim Ducks. On the other hand, it is possible for the Buffalo Sabres<\/a> to pass the Penguins, which would place them seventh-last. With a final placement in the 7-9 range, Pittsburgh is likely to select in the top ten for the first time since 2012 in this years NHL Entry Draft.<\/p>\n

Even with a disappointing season, there have been multiple bright spots. Father Time has yet to come for Captain Sidney Crosby<\/a>, who comes into this game with 89 points in 79 games. He\u2019s achieved this with incredible support from his wingers Rickard Rakell<\/a> and Bryan Rust<\/a>. Rakell has scored 35 goals and 69 points, while Rust has 29 goals and 63 points.<\/p>\n

A youth movement is taking place in Pittsburgh, with many younger players coming into Pittsburgh and making an impact. Ville Koivenun\u2019s five points in seven games has helped him improve his stock, as he is likely to be an NHL starter next season. Along with him is Rutger McGroarty<\/a>. McGroarty had three points in five games prior to going down with injury to end the season. The pair of forwards, rookie defenceman Owen Pickering<\/a>, and young defenceman Conor Timmins<\/a> are likely to become mainstays on the main roster next year.<\/p>\n

The Capitals\u2019 Story<\/h3>\n

The Washington Capitals have had an unexpectedly amazing season. With a 51-21-9 record, the Capitals\u2019 111 points is good for tops in the East, and second best in the entire NHL. The Capitals weren\u2019t even expected to be in a divisional playoff spot coming into this season. However, with key additions and the overarching storyline of Alex Ovechkin<\/a>\u2019s goal record chase, the Capitals played far beyond expectations to put together a fantastic regular season.<\/p>\n

Captain Alex Ovechkin leads the team in scoring. His 43 goals in 64 games were enough to complete his chase of Wayne Gretzky<\/a>\u2019s goal-scoring record. He owes a lot of his success to the new guard of Washington. Dylan Strome<\/a> has 81 points in 81 games to lead the Caps in points. Young guns like Aliaksei Protas<\/a> and Connor McMichael<\/a> have also been impressive, as Protas has 66 points on the season, and McMichael has 56. The team boasts incredible depth as well. Expect some of the lesser-known Caps to get significant time against the Penguins as the club gets ready for the first round against either the Montreal Canadiens or the Columbus Blue Jackets.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Prediction<\/h3>\n

The Washington Capitals are top-tier team this season, while the Penguins are set for their worst record in over a decade. Expect the theme of this season to continue in this final game, with a Capitals win.<\/p>\n

Prediction:<\/strong>\u00a0Capitals win 5\u20133<\/em><\/p>\n

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

Total Goals Over 7 (+210):<\/strong>\u00a0A defensive anemic Penguins squad faces off against a high-powered and deep Capitals roster. Expect Washington to run up the score in this game.<\/p>\n

Main photo by: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images<\/em><\/p>\n

Please play responsibly, check for your local rules and age restrictions; some jurisdictions require ages 21+. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Pittsburgh Penguins conclude their 2024\u201325 season on home ice tonight, hosting the Washington Capitals at PPG Paints Arena. Welcome back to NHL Predictions here on\u00a0Last Word on Hockey!\u00a0Each day, we provide in-depth analysis, insights, and predictions for all the NHL\u2019s games. In today’s matchup, the Penguins aim to finish their season on a high […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5231,"featured_media":461020,"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":[4547,4548,12,4524,15],"tags":[2568,7002,1061,3794,171,6123,724,140,6867,6239],"class_list":["post-466927","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hockey","category-nhl","category-penguins","category-nhl-predictions","category-capitals","tag-alex-ovechkin","tag-aliaksei-protas","tag-bryan-rust","tag-connor-mcmichael","tag-dylan-strome","tag-pittsburgh-penguins-predictions","tag-rickard-rakell","tag-sidney-crosby","tag-ville-koivunen","tag-washington-capitals-predictions"],"modified_by":"Dan Mount, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466927","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\/5231"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=466927"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466927\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":466962,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466927\/revisions\/466962"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/461020"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=466927"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=466927"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=466927"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}