New Jersey Devils vs Washington Capitals NHL Picks, Odds, Predictions 10/21/2021
Washington Capitals (2-0-1) vs. New Jersey Devils (2-0)
October 21, 2021 7:00 pm EDT
The Line: New Jersey Devils +110 / Washington Capitals -130; Over/Under: -6.5
(Get latest betting odds)
The Washington Capitals and the New Jersey Devils meet in NHL action from the Prudential Center on Thursday night.
The Washington Capitals will be looking to build on their 6-3 win over the Colorado Avalanche last time out. Evgeny Kuznetsov opened up the scoring for the Caps just 6:15 into the game but Colorado would tie things up with just over six minutes to go in the first. Nick Jensen restored Washington’s lead just before the end of the 1st, but Colorado would again respond just over three minutes into the second. Anthony Mantha and Kuznetsov would score 1:54 apart late in the second to push the Caps ahead 4-2, a lead they wouldn’t relinquish after Nic Dowd pushed the lead to 5-2 in the first minute of the third period. Colorado would pull a goal back with just over three minutes to go in the third, but Alex Ovechkin would pot an empty-netter as the exclamation point for the Caps. Ilya Samsonov got the win after stopping 24 of 27 shots faced in the winning effort,
The New Jersey Devils will look to add to their 4-2 win over the Kraken in their last matchup. Dawson Mercer and Damon Severson struck early for the Devils, scoring 1:40 apart in the first, and the lead held until Seattle got on the board just after the midway point of the second. Jimmy Vesey would restore New Jersey’s two-goal cushion with just over five minutes to go in the second and that cushion held up until Seattle cut the deficit to 3-2 with just over five minutes to play in the 3rd. That was as close as the Kraken would get as Pavel Zacha iced the win with an empty-net goal with :20 to play for the 4-2 win. Jonathan Bernier got the win after stopping 27 of 29 shots faced in the winning effort.
Washington is 21-5 in their last 26 games as a favorite and 17-7 in their last 24 road games while the over is 5-0-1 in their last 6 games as a road favorite. New Jersey is 7-3 in their last 10 games overall and 7-20 in their last 27 home games while the over is 4-1 in their last 5 games as a home underdog.
I get the case that could be made for the Devils as a home dog as they’ve started the season well. However, Washington has had New Jersey’s number over the years and they’re back to looking like the Capitals team that would challenge for the cup year after year and making me question why I didn’t take a futures bet on them to win the division. I know it’s only the first weekend of the season, but the Caps look really good. Give me Washington and the cheap price here.
