The Washington Capitals take one of the league's best records to Madison Square Garden as they face off against the New York Rangers in NHL action on Tuesday. This is the second contest in a two-game home-and-home set that saw the Caps hold on for a 5-4 win in Washington on Sunday.
Oddsmakers are expecting a close battle between these East Division foes with NHL betting lines installing this game as a pick'em. Here are our best free Capitals vs. Rangers picks and predictions for Tuesday, March 30, with the puck dropping at 7 p.m. ET.
Washington Capitals at New York Rangers betting preview
Injuries
Capitals: Lars Eller C (Out).
Rangers: Brett Howden C (Out), Jack Johnson D (Out).
Find our latest NHL injury reports.
Betting trend to know
The Capitals are 8-1 in their last nine games against a team with a losing record. Find more NHL betting trends for Capitals vs. Rangers.
NHL sharp money and line movement report
By Patrick EversonThis game opened Monday night as a -108 pick 'em on the moneyline at FanDuel, then moved to New York -118 this morning before swinging to Washington -118, where the price rests as of 5 p.m. ET. Ticket count and money are both running about 3/1 on the Capitals. The total opened at 6.5 (Under -122) and is up a few cents on that price to -130, with 72 percent of bets/68 percent of dollars on the Under.
Check out the full line movement for this gameMoneyline pick
The Capitals jumped out to a 4-0 lead against the Rangers on Sunday, before a whacky third period saw the Blueshirts almost pull off the comeback. Washington is atop the East Division standings with a 23-7-4 record and has won 20 of its last 28 games.
Led by future Hall of Famer Alex Ovechkin, the Capitals are third in the league in scoring with 3.44 goals per game. Ovi has found the back of the net 11 times in the last 11 games and has plenty of talent surrounding him, including center Nicklas Backstrom (36 points in 34 games) and defenseman John Carlson (28 points).
While the Caps have looked vulnerable between the pipes at times this year, their goaltending duo of Vitek Vanecek and Ilya Samsonov had played well in recent contests—at least before that third-period collapse on the weekend. Prior to Sunday's game, Washington had allowed just 1.33 goals per game over its previous six contests, which included a pair of meetings against the Rangers.
New York has now lost back-to-back games and is in sixth place in the division. That said, the Rangers are still a solid 5-4 since star forward Artemi Panarin rejoined the team on March 13. They are 12th in the league in goals scored, while ranking 11th in goals allowed, although their scoring average might be a tad inflated by a pair of recent contests against the Flyers where they potted eight and nine goals.
The Rangers' maddening inconsistency might be their biggest problem this season, with New York either lighting the lamp or doing virtually nothing on the offensive end of the ice. When you consider Washington's excellent play on the road, going 33-13-5 in away contests since the start of last season, back the more consistent Capitals squad.
PREDICTION: Washington moneyline (-110)
Over/Under pick
These teams may have combined for nine goals when they met up on Sunday but that was actually just the first time in the last five meetings that they went above the total. Despite the high-scoring final score in that contest, both teams actually struggled to generate chances with the Rangers having just 20 shots on net and the Caps getting 22.
Rangers third-string goalie Keith Kincaid was in nets for that game and New York will most likely start Igor Shesterkin tonight. The sophomore is enjoying a strong season with a 2.34 goals-against average and a save percentage of .924 through 17 games. And he's looked very sharp recently, turning away 95 of 101 shots over his last three starts.
Samsonov was between the pipes for Washington in Sunday's game and although he leaked four goals in the final frame he has played well this year, going 8-1-1 with a 2.39 GAA. The Caps could opt to start Vanecek tonight but should be confident with the youngster allowing a total of four goals over his last three games—including a strong performance against the Rangers where he stopped 32 of 33 shots.
Expect a tighter defensive game after a sloppy final two periods on Sunday and take the Under.
PREDICTION: Under 6 (-105)
Capitals vs Rangers betting card
- Washington ML (-110)
- Under 6 (-105)
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