Nashville Predators (16-14-6) vs. Washington Capitals (21-13-6)
January 6, 2023 7:00 pm EDT
The Line: Washington Capitals -159 / Nashville Predators +126; Over/Under: +9.5
(Get latest betting odds)
The Nashville Predators and the Washington Capitals meet in NHL action from the Capital One Arena on Friday night.
The Nashville Predators come into this one on the back-to-back after battling the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday. Heading into Thursday, Filip Forsberg has 33 points with 14 goals and 19 assists while Mikael Granlund has 24 points with his own 20 assists and Matt Duchene has 28 points with 17 assists on the year. Roman Josi has 30 points with 21 assists and Nino Niederreiter’s also chipped in 12 goals while Ryan Johansen has 9 goals as well on the year. Juuse Saros has gone 13-10-5 with a 2.76 GAA and a .915 save percentage between the pipes for Nashville while Kevin Lankinen is 3-4-1 with a 2.91 GAA and a .916 save percentage.
The Washington Capitals will also be on the back-to-back after taking on Columbus on Thursday. Entering Thursday, Alex Ovechkin has a team-high 47 points with a team-high 28 goals and 19 assists. Dylan Strome also has 28 points with 20 assists while Evgeny Kuznetsov also has a team-high 28 assists as part of his 34 points up to this point in the year. Darcy Kuemper has gone 10-9-4 with a 2.58 GAA and a .916 save percentage while Charlie Lindgren is 11-4-2 with a 2.57 GAA and a .914 save percentage this season.
Nashville is 1-7 in their last 8 games against a team with a winning record and 2-7 in their last 9 games played on no rest while the over is 5-2 in their last 7 games overall. Washington is 11-3 in their last 14 games overall and 7-3 in their last 10 home games while the under is 5-0-1 in their last 6 games played on no rest.
This is a bit of a tricky one with both teams on the back-to-back, but I just trust the Capitals more right now between these two teams. Washington’s at least putting their best foot forward most nights to help with Alex Ovechkin’s goal chase while the Preds are the mixed bag and you never know which version of the Preds are going to show up. All in all, I think the Caps are just the better team here if nothing else. Give me the Capitals.
