Thursday Picks: Caps win in Ovechkin's return
Welcome to the NHL Daily Picks where hockey writers Adam Gretz and Chris Peters make their picks for all of the days games.
The Washington Capitals returned from the All-Star break on Tuesday night and played what was probably one of their worst games of the season, dropping a 5-2 decision at home to the Florida Panthers for their second consecutive loss.
When you consider they played Tuesday’s game without Alex Ovechkin, who was serving his one-game suspension for not playing in the All-Star game over the weekend, and starting goalie Braden Holtby (who did play in the All-Star game) was given the night off, it’s not hard to see why they struggled against a first-place team.
The Capitals are back in action on Thursday night when they host the New York Islanders, and they should have both Ovechkin and Holtby back in the lineup.
This is a much bigger game for the Islanders than it is the Capitals.
Even with back-to-back losses (and three in their past five games) Washington still maintains a 15-point lead in the Metropolitan Division and a nine-point lead over the Panthers for the top spot in the Eastern Conference. They have been so good this season that it’s allowed them to build quite a cushion in the standings to withstand a mid-season slump (if you even want to call this a “slump”). The Islanders, meanwhile, find themselves in that pack of team of teams in the middle of the Eastern Conference that are fighting for a playoff spot.
Even though the Islanders still hold the third spot in the Metropolitan Division (trail the Rangers by just one point), the Pittsburgh Penguins and New Jersey Devils are right on their heels and trail the Islanders by just a single point. The Penguins are currently holding the second wild card spot while the Devils are just on the outside of the playoff picture at the moment.
Depending on how the night goes around the league, the Islanders could either find themselves in second place in the division, or in a wild card spot just one point from being out of the playoffs.
Unfortunately for the Islanders they are more likely to find themselves in the latter position having to visit a Capitals team that will be getting back to full strength. The Capitals have only lost nine games in regulation this season. Two of them have come in the two games that Ovechkin has missed. They are 35-7-4 when he plays. They will add to that total on Thursday. Pick: Washington Capitals 4, New York Islanders 2
The rest of Thursday’s picks
Boston Bruins 5, Buffalo Sabres 2
New York Rangers 3, Minnesota Wild 1
New Jersey Devils 2, Toronto Maple Leafs 0
Edmonton Oilers 4, Ottawa Senators 3
Florida Panthers 3, Detroit Red Wings 2
St. Louis Blues 4, San Jose Sharks 1
Nashville Predators 3, Philadelphia Flyers 1
Dallas Stars 5, Colorado Avalanche 4
Chicago Blackhawks 4, Arizona Coyotes 2
Vancouver Canucks 2, Columbus Blue Jackets 0
Anaheim Ducks 3, Los Angeles Kings 2
Alex Ovechkin returns for the Washington Capitals on Thursday night. (USATSI)
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service – if this is your content and you’re reading it on someone else’s site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers.
