{"id":66854,"date":"2020-01-27T09:00:41","date_gmt":"2020-01-27T14:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/?p=66854"},"modified":"2020-01-27T07:24:52","modified_gmt":"2020-01-27T12:24:52","slug":"nhl-predictions-january-27th-including-capitals-vs-canadiens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2020\/01\/27\/nhl-predictions-january-27th-including-capitals-vs-canadiens\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL Predictions: January 27th – Including Washington Capitals vs Montreal Canadiens"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome back to\u00a0NHL Predictions<\/a>, where the Last Word on Hockey team provides insight into all of today\u2019s games. On Wednesday, January 27th\u2019s edition of NHL Predictions, we\u2019ll take a look at the six games in the return from the All-Star break. Today\u2019s featured game is a battle between the Washington Capitals<\/a> and Montreal Canadiens<\/a>.<\/p>\n

NHL Predictions<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Washington Capitals vs Montreal Canadiens<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

Head-to-Head: Capitals 0-1 Canadiens<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n

Washington will be without leading goal-scorer <\/span>Alex Ovechkin<\/a><\/strong>, who is suspended for skipping the All-Star Game without being injured. <\/span>The Caps had come in winners of their last three straight before the mid-season break. John Carlson<\/a><\/strong> is having a Norris Trophy caliber season with 47 assists a<\/span>nd 60 points. Ilya Samsonov<\/a><\/strong> has stepped up and gotten more starts in goal for a struggling Braden Holtby<\/a><\/strong>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Washington\u2019s offence scores 3.55 goals a game and gives up 2.90 a game. The Capitals\u2019 power play scores <\/span>20.3 percent of the time and they kill off 84.2 percent of opposing power plays.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Montreal did win the only meeting between the two teams with a 5-2 win in the American capital. Tomas Tatar<\/a><\/strong> logged a goal and three assists in the victory. Tatar leads the <\/span>club in goals (17), assists (26) and points (43). Carey Price<\/a><\/strong> is 20-<\/span>16-4 with a 2.84 goals-against-average and .908 save percentage.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The <\/span>Habs<\/span> have won four of their last five and are trying to save their season. Montreal\u2019s power play is 20.6 percent successful while they kill off 78.9 percent <\/span>of penalties.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019ll be hard without Ovechki<\/span>n, but the Capitals have a good lineup and are motivated to start the second half off right.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Prediction: Capitals win 4-2.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

New Jersey Devils vs Ottawa Senators<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

Head-to-Head: Devils 1-1 Senators<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n

The New Jersey Devils<\/a> have lost three straight and <\/span>have given up at least five goals in those defeats. <\/span>Blake Coleman<\/a><\/strong> leads the team in goals with 19 while Kyle Palmieri<\/a><\/strong> is tops in points with <\/span>31. <\/span>G<\/span>oalie <\/span>MacKenzie<\/strong><\/a> Blackwood<\/strong><\/a> has been skating with the team after concussion issues.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

New Jersey scores 2.58 goals a game and allows 3.52 a game. <\/span>The Devils\u2019 power play converts at a terrible 13.9 percent and they kill 79.6 percent of penalties.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Ottawa Senators<\/a> do have a winning record at home and got a win over the Calgary Flames<\/a> before the break. <\/span>Ottawa had lost nine straight games before breaking through against Calgary. Anthony Duclair<\/a><\/strong> leads in <\/span>goals (21) and points for the Sens (33). Anders Nilsson<\/a><\/strong> is hoping to <\/span>be back with the team soon to take over for Craig Anderson <\/a><\/strong>in the net.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ottawa scores 2.71 goals a game and allow 3.33 a game. The Senators\u2019 power play is even worse than the Devils at 12.2 percent and they have a<\/span>n<\/span> 81.1 <\/span>percent success rate on the PK.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Both teams are coming off the bye week and should be rested. The Senators\u2019 home form should be <\/span>able to take them to the win.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Prediction: Senators win 4-2.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Toronto <\/span>Maple Leafs vs Nashville Predators<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

Tampa Bay Lightning vs Dallas Stars<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

Head-to-Head: Lightning <\/span>0-1 Stars<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n

The Tampa Bay Lightning<\/a> have been red-hot with an 11-2-0 run in their last 13 games. Tampa Bay is also coming in refreshed with <\/span>a nine-day layoff. Nikita Kucherov<\/a><\/strong> leads the team in all offensive categories like goals (22), assists (32) and points (54). <\/span>Andrei <\/strong><\/a>Vasilevskiy<\/strong><\/a> is 24-9-2 with a <\/span>2.54 goals-against-average and .917 save percentage.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Lightning score 3.60 goals a game and allow 2.85 a contest. Tampa\u2019s power play <\/span>scores 27.5 percent on the power play and their PK is rated at 83.1 percent.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Dallas Stars<\/a> have won three of their last five, including a 7-1 pasting of the Winnipeg Jets<\/a>. <\/span>Roope Hintz<\/a><\/strong> leads the way in goals with <\/span>15 while Tyler Seguin<\/a><\/strong> is tops in assists and points. Both Ben Bishop<\/a> <\/strong>and Anton Khud<\/strong><\/a><\/span>obin<\/strong><\/a> have a goals-against-average of 2.30 or lower and a .927 save percentage.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Dall<\/span>as nets 2.56 goals a game and yields 2.46 a game. The Stars convert 19.7 percent on the power play and kill 82.4 percent of <\/span>penalties.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This will be a contrast of styles, but the Lightning\u2019s speed should carry them to a win.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Prediction: Lightning win 3-2.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

St. Louis Blues vs Vancouver Canucks<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

Head-to-Head: Blues 1-1 Canucks<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n

Both the St. Louis Blues<\/a> and Vancouver Canucks<\/a> are in first place in their respective divisions. The road team has taken the first two games this se<\/span>a<\/span>son. St. Louis <\/span>has lost two in a row before going into the All-Star break. David <\/strong><\/a><\/span>Perron<\/strong><\/a> leads<\/span> in goals (21) and points (49) and Jordan Binnington<\/a><\/strong> is putting up some big numbers in goal with a <\/span>22-8-5 mark, 2.58 goals-against-average and .912 save percentage.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Blues score 3.22 goals a game and allow 2.67 a game. St. Louis scores on 25.3 percent of power plays and stop 81.7 percent of penalties.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Vancouver has won four of its last five games and is led by Elias Pettersson<\/a><\/strong> in goals (21), assists (30) and points (50). <\/span>Ja<\/strong><\/a>cob Markstrom<\/strong><\/a> is playing well in a contract year with an 18-13-3 record, 2.71 goals-against-average and <\/span>.916 save percentage.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Canucks net 3.24 goals a game and give up 3.02 a game. Vancouver\u2019s power play converts 23.8 percent of the time and <\/span>kill off 80.6 percent of opposing power plays.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This could be a possible playoff matchup. St. Louis would love a win<\/span> here to start the second half.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Prediction: Blues win 4-3 in overtime.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Anaheim Ducks vs San Jose Sharks<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

Head-to-Head: Ducks <\/span>1-1 Sharks<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n

It\u2019s another rematch between the Pacific Division rivals as the Anaheim Ducks<\/a> look to add their third straight win. <\/span>Jakob Silfverberg<\/a><\/strong> leads in goals with 15 and Ryan Getzlaf<\/a><\/strong> leads in points with 33. John Gibson<\/a> <\/strong>takes most of the starts and is 14-19-<\/span>3.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Anaheim\u2019s power play scores 15.0 percent of the time and their PK is 77.8 percent successful. The Ducks score 2.46 goals a game and give up <\/span>3.10 a game.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The San Jose Sharks<\/a> have lost three straight games heading into the break. Evander Kane<\/a><\/strong> leads in goals with 19 and Er<\/strong><\/a><\/span>ik Karlsson<\/strong><\/a> is tops in assists with <\/span>31. Leading point-man Logan Couture<\/a> <\/strong>is out of the lineup long-term. Aaron Dell<\/a> <\/strong>has been getting many of the starts since Bob Boughner<\/a><\/strong> took over as head coach.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

San Jose gets 2.56 a game and give up 3.32 a game. The Sharks score 16.7 percent of power plays and kill 87.7 percent of penalties.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Sharks will miss Couture and that should be the difference as Dallas Eakins<\/strong><\/a> has the Ducks playing better.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Prediction: Ducks win 4-2.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"WASHINGTON, DC – NOVEMBER 15: Canadiens left wing Jonathan Drouin<\/a> (92) stickhandles in front of the net while Capitals right wing T.J. Oshie<\/a> (77) tries to poke check during the Montreal Canadiens vs. Washington Capitals game November 15, 2019 at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.. (Photo by Randy Litzinger\/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome back to\u00a0NHL Predictions, where the Last Word on Hockey team provides insight into all of today\u2019s games. On Wednesday, January 27th\u2019s edition of NHL Predictions, we\u2019ll take a look at the six games in the return from the All-Star break. Today\u2019s featured game is a battle between the Washington Capitals and Montreal Canadiens. NHL […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2352,"featured_media":61720,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_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":[4524,2],"tags":[4504,102,152,243,151,4503,70,117,39,42,72,158,75],"class_list":["post-66854","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nhl-predictions","category-featured","tag-anahiem-ducks","tag-dallas-stars","tag-montreal-canadiens","tag-nashville-predators","tag-new-jersey-devils","tag-nhl-predictions","tag-ottawa-senators","tag-san-jose-sharks","tag-st-louis-blues","tag-tampa-bay-lightning","tag-toronto-maple-leafs","tag-vancouver-canucks","tag-washington-capitals"],"modified_by":"William Grigsby","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66854","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=66854"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66854\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61720"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66854"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66854"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66854"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

Head-to-Head: Maple <\/span>Leafs<\/span> 0-0 Predators<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n

Both<\/span> the Toronto Maple <\/a><\/span>Leafs<\/span><\/a> and Nashville Predators<\/a> are looking to make a second-half surge<\/span> to make the postseason. The <\/span>Leafs<\/span> have dropped four of their last fi<\/span>ve games <\/span>and are four points out of third in the Atlantic Division. Auston Matthews<\/a><\/strong> leads in goals (34) and poi<\/span>nts (57) for Toronto. Frederik Andersen<\/a><\/strong> has struggled in recent games in net.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Maple <\/span>Leafs<\/span> have scored 3.57 goals a game and give up 3.29 a game. Toronto\u2019s power play gets a goal 24.4 percent of the time and they kill 76.3 per<\/span>cent of penalties.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Nashville has won three of its last five <\/span>games but<\/span> need work to get back into the playoff mix. Filip Forsberg<\/a> <\/strong>leads in goals with<\/span> 16 while Roman Josi<\/a><\/strong> is the top point-getter with 48. Goaltending has been an issue as both <\/span>Pekka<\/strong><\/a> Rinne<\/strong><\/a> and Juuse Saros<\/a> <\/strong>have st<\/span>ruggled in net.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Predators net 3.30 goals a game and surrender <\/span>3.21 a game. Nashville scores on the power play 16.9 percent of the time and kill 73.6 <\/span>percent<\/span> o<\/span>f penalties.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Both teams are desperate for a win to start the second half off right. The Predators\u2019 recent run is more encouraging. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Prediction: Predators win 4-3 in overtime.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n