Pittsburgh vs Washington: The Capitals will take two points away from Pennsylvania

Washington have beaten Pittsburgh in only one of their last four head-to-head encounters. Will Peter Laviolette's side be able to improve on that statistic? We predict that this time the Capitals will be closer to success!

Pittsburgh are starting to slow down. After a poor start to the regular season, the Penguins made a spectacular run, demolishing almost everyone in their path. In 19 meetings, the Pennsylvanians managed to win 17 games and brought them very close to the group of leaders. They failed to extend their winning streak, suffering three straight defeats in late January. First, Mike Sullivan's team lost to Seattle 1-2, then failed to defeat Detroit 2-3 and the day before, they lost to Los Angeles 3-4. A string of defeats dropped the Yellow and Black to fifth place in the Eastern Conference standings, trailing the leader by eight points.

Washington, on the contrary, started the regular championship superbly, and the tandem of Evgeny Kuznetsov and Alexander Ovechkin was a fairy in almost every game. The Russian forwards gradually began to slacken, and the rest of the hockey team lacked leadership. All of this led to a serious decline for the Capitals. In their last 12 games, Peter Laviolette's men have managed only four wins and eight defeats, which clearly can't suit such an ambitious team. The day before, they improved their fortunes by beating Dallas 5-0 on the road, but that local success still leaves them in seventh place in the Eastern Conference standings.

Pittsburgh and Washington unevenly conduct the current regular championship because they are located unusually low in the Eastern Conference standings. In the meantime, the Capitals managed to make themselves happy the day before, defeating Dallas 5-0, while the Penguins lost their last three games, each time at home. The Penguins have suffered a small decline, and Peter Laviolette's wards have to take advantage of that. Therefore, we have to place our bet on Washington's victory in this game for 2.95.

Pittsburgh and Washington are two fun teams that are not afraid to play attacking hockey. Fortunately, the roster allows it. In the 45 games the Penguins played, 271 goals have already been scored (6.02 average per game), and the Capitals have scored 267 goals (5.93 average per game) over the same distance. In addition, our opponents often play together, scoring 32 goals (6.40 goals per game on average) in their five previous head-to-head encounters. With this in mind, we would say that Total Over 5.5 pucks for 1.68 would be a good bet.

Tom Wilson continues to prove to the world that he can provoke opponents and do a lot of the grunt work and produce noticeably well. He's already played in 41 games this season, recording a respectable 30 points (13 goals + 17 assists). If the 27-year-old Canadian continues to play as effectively as he has been, he could well break his personal best with 14 points remaining. If that's the case, you might want to take a closer look at Tom Wilson's Total Over 0.5 points for 3.50.