The Washington Capitals (18-13-4) have been one of the in-form teams in the NHL in recent weeks and the Winnipeg Jets (21-11-1) will be hoping to cool them off Friday night.
Bookmaker BetOnline is expecting plenty of goals from the contest, offering odds at +100 for Washington to get over 3.5 goals and at -140 for Winnipeg to score over 2.5 goals.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: December 23rd, 8:30 A.M. (EST)
The two teams clash just 12 days after having their first meeting of the campaign and Winnipeg will try to avenge a 5-2 defeat. Following a tight opening period, the Capitals exploded for four second-period goals and the Jets simply couldn’t match them offensively. It isn’t an easy task to outscore Washington either with Alex Ovechkin leading the team and chasing history.
Ovechkin is just one goal short of matching Gordie Howe for the second-most regular-season goals in NHL history. He enters Friday’s action having potted 800 goals in 1,309 outings. The Capitals captain looks due a goal as well with him in danger of recording his longest goal drought of the season with a five-game run.
The Jets have been without one of their best scorers for the whole campaign, but Nikolaj Ehler’s absence hasn’t kept the team from averaging 3.33 goals per game. A number of players have hugely improved as the team is desperate to return to playoffs after missing out on postseason action last term.
With Josh Morrissey leading the side in scoring, you could say that Winnipeg’s biggest offensive threat actually comes from their defense. The 27-year-old is having a very special campaign and he’s carrying an 11-game point streak ahead of Friday’s meeting. The longest point streak in franchise history stands at 15 games so Ovechkin isn’t the only guy chasing history in the match-up.
Morrissey has come up big at a vital time as Blake Wheeler is also currently out of commission. The injuries have hurt Winnipeg’s momentum and the team has managed just three wins from the past seven outings. Improving the form will be very difficult against a side that has dropped only one of its last nine games. History isn’t in the Jets’ favor either Friday night.
Having won the first clash of the season, Washington now boasts 16 victories from the last 21 games between the two squads. The team has also won 21 of the last 27 home games in the match-up, and the Capital One Arena isn’t just a happy place for the Capitals either, as home teams boast 13 wins in total from the past 16 games in the head-to-head series.
