Sean Couturier, Travis Konecny, and the Philadelphia Flyers will do battle against John Carlson, Alex Ovechkin, and the Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena in a Metro Division tilt. NBC Sports Washington will showcase the matchup, which gets going at 7 p.m. ET on Saturday, February 8.
Philadelphia Flyers at Washington Capitals Odds
The Capitals (-190) are currently solidly favored over the Flyers (+165), and oddsmakers have set the Over/Under (O/U) at 7 goals (-105 over, -115 under).
Washington is 36-18 straight up (SU) and has earned moneyline bettors 8.3 units this season. That winning percentage, ranked first in the league in this young season, is an improvement over the 48-34 record from the 2018-19 season campaign. Through 54 regular season outings, 34 of its games have gone over the total, while 18 have gone under and just two have pushed. This year, the team is 16-11 SU at home.
The Capitals have converted on 20.0 percent of their power play opportunities this season, a figure that’s right around league average. On the other hand, their penalty kill is ranked second overall, and they’ve successfully killed off 84.7 percent of all penalties.
Averaging 25.8 saves per game with a .897 save percentage, Braden Holtby (21-15-4) has been the most dependable goalkeeper for Washington this season. If the Caps choose to rest him, however, the team could go with Ilya Samsonov (16-5-5 record, .923 save percentage, 2.21 goals against average).
On the visitors’ side of the rink, Philadelphia is 29-25 straight up (SU) and has earned 2.8 units for moneyline bettors this year. A total of 27 of its matches have gone over the total, while 26 have gone under the total and just one has pushed. As a road team, the Flyers are 11-16 SU so far.
The Flyers have converted on 19.0 percent of their power play opportunities this season, a figure that’s right around league average. On the other hand, its penalty kill unit is ranked 16th overall and it’s successfully killed off 81.0 percent of all opponent power plays.
Carter Hart (22.1 saves per game) has been the primary choice in goal for Philadelphia. Hart has 15 wins, 17 losses, and three OT losses to his credit, while registering a .905 save percentage and 2.61 goals against average this year.
Philadelphia Flyers vs. Washington Capitals Betting Picks
Free Pick: SU Winner – Flyers, O/U – Over
Betting Trends
- Seven of Washington’s last ten outings have been decided by two or more goals. The team is 6-1 overall in those games.
- Penalties and power plays could prove to be extremely important tonight. The Flyers are 12-15 when they serve fewer penalty minutes than their opponent and 20-20 in games where they serve fewer than 10 penalty minutes, in total. The Capitals are 11-7 when the team serves fewer penalty minutes than the opposition and 19-8 in games where their penalty minutes are in the single digits.
- Philadelphia is 5-5 in games decided by a shootout this season while Washington is 3-2 in shootouts.
- Philadelphia is ranked 14th this season with 9.9 giveaways per game. That figure has trended down lately, however, as the team’s averaged 8.4 giveaways over its last 10 games and 8.0 giveaways over its last five.
- Washington is ranked 22nd this season with 11.2 giveaways per game. That figure has regressed lately, as it’s averaged 13.5 giveaways over its last 10 games and 14.2 giveaways over its last five.
- The Caps this season have recorded the seventh-most hits in the NHL (24.3 per game).
