Calgary Flames vs Washington Capitals 12/3/22 NHL Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Calgary Flames and Washington Capitals do battle Saturday night in a NHL showdown at the Scotiabank Saddledome. The Calgary Flames have lost 4 of their last 5 games. The Washington Capitals have split their last 6 games.

The Washington Capitals are averaging 2.8 goals per game and are scoring on 21.4 percent of their power play opportunities. Alex Ovechkin leads Washington with 13 goals, Evgeny Kuznetsov has 13 assists and John Carlson has 67 shots on goal. Defensively, the Washington Capitals are allowing 3 goals per game and are killing 79.2 percent of their opponent’s power plays. Darcy Kuemper has given up 46 goals on 544 shots faced, and Charlie Lindgren has allowed 23 goals on 218 shots.

The Calgary Flames are averaging 3 goals per game and are scoring on 20 percent of their power play opportunities. Nazem Kadri leads Calgary with 8 goals, Rasmus Andersson has 13 assists and Tyler Toffoli has 74 shots on goal. Defensively, the Calgary Flames are allowing 3.1 goals per game and are killing 80 percent of their opponent’s power plays. Jacob Markstrom has allowed 49 goals on 441 shots faced, and Dan Vladar has given up 18 goals on 206 shots.

The Capitals are 1-7 in their last 8 road games and 5-11 in their last 16 overall. The Flames are 15-5 in their last 20 Saturday games and 1-4 in their last 5 overall. The under is 6-0 in Capitals last 6 overall. The under is 4-1 in Flames last 5 overall. The Capitals are 6-1 in the last 7 meetings in Calgary and 6-1 in the last 7 meetings. The underdog is 7-1 in the last 8 meetings.

The Washington Capitals aren’t having their best season in the world, and they’ve had issues on the road. The Calgary Flames should be favored at home here. However, the Flames are in a bit of a rough patch themselves, with loses in 4 of their last 5 games and a defense that comes and goes. The Caps have beaten up on the Flames over the years, for what that’s worth. I’ll take a shot with the road dog.