Washington Capitals at Los Angeles Kings NHL Picks & Predictions 3/8/2018

Thursday, March 8, 2018

Staples Center

Get todays NHL hockey odds on this game.

The Washington Capitals head to Staples Center to take on the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday, March 8, 2018. The opening line for this contest has the Capitals at +118 and the Kings at -130.

Washington has a record of 37-22-7 this year and away from home they have a record of 14-13-5-1. They are 1st in the Metropolitan Division. They have tallied 203 goals and surrendered 197 goals for a point differential of +6. For the year they have an ATS mark of 37-29-0 and an over/under record of 38-27-0. Los Angeles has a record of 36-25-5 including 16-12-3-0 on home ice this year. They are 4th in the Pacific Division. They've scored 192 goals and have given up 165 for a goal differential of +27. Their record against the spread is 36-30-0 while their over/under mark is 30-33-0.

Valuable Washington Capitals Betting Trends

The Washington Capitals are 37-29-0 straight up this year

The Washington Capitals are 38-27-0 against the over/under this season

Important Los Angeles Kings Betting Trends

The Los Angeles Kings are 36-30-0 straight up this year

The Los Angeles Kings are 30-33-0 against the over/under this season

Key Washington Capitals Injuries

No key injuries to report

Key Los Angeles Kings Injuries

03/03/18 C Trevor Lewis Concussion IR (02/09)

Player Spotlight

Alex Ovechkin has scored 72 total points this year for the Capitals. He has 40 goals this season with 281 shots on net, giving him a shooting percentage of 14%. He has a total of 32 assists on the year and averages 20 minutes played per contest. Nicklas Backstrom averages 19.7 minutes of ice time per game this season. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 13% by tallying 16 goals on 127 attempts. He has 33 assists, giving him a total of 49 points on the year. Braden Holtby has 29 wins and 15 losses this season in goal for the Capitals. He has 1,468 shots against him and he's surrendered 137 goals. He's made 1,331 stops for a save percentage of 91%.

Player Spotlight

Anze Kopitar has 71 total points this season for the Kings. He has 27 goals this year with 160 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 17%. He has a total of 44 assists on the year and averages 22 minutes played per contest. Dustin Brown averages 19.5 minutes of ice time per contest. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 11% by scoring 19 goals on 172 attempts. He has 26 assists, giving him a total of 45 points on the year. Jonathan Quick has 25 wins and 24 losses this season in net for the Kings. He has 1,515 shots against him and he's given up 120 goals. He's made 1,395 saves for a save percentage of 92%.

Useful Team Statistics

The Capitals have 81 total points this year, which is 8th in the NHL. They've scored 203 goals while giving up 197 scores, which has them ranked 11th and 15th respectively. They have had 194 power play chances and scored 43 goals on those opportunities for a percentage of 22%. That is 5th in the league. The Capitals have given up 219 power play opportunities and surrendered 45 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 79%, ranking them 18th when short-handed. They average 29 shots per contest and as a team shoot 10.67% for the year. They allow 32 shot attempts to their opposition per game and have a team save percentage of 91%, which is 19th in the league.

Useful Team Statistics

The Kings are 15th in the league with a total of 77 points this season. They have 39 power play goals on 192 chances for a percentage of 20%. That is 17th in the NHL. They've given up 223 power play opportunities and surrendered 37 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 83%, ranking 2nd overall. As a team, the Kings are 17th with a total of 192 goals scored while they've given up 165 goals this season, ranking 30th in goals against. They average 31 shots per game and have a team shooting percentage of 9.36%. As a unit they give up 32 shots per contest and have a save percentage of 92%, putting them 3rd overall in the NHL.

Advanced Statistics

Washington is 26th in the NHL in Corsi percentage with 47.7%, as they've attempted 3,655 shots on net at full strength while they've given up 4,015 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage is 47% as they have 2,707 attempts while they have given up 3,053 shots on the defensive end. That ranks them 31st in the league. The Capitals start possessions in the offensive zone 49.6% of the time, which is 20th in the league, while their defensive zone percentage is at 50.4% for the season. That is 16th overall in the NHL. They have 1,972 face-off wins compared to 1,945 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 50.3%. That ranks them 18th in the league. On defense Washington has 1,445 hits and they have blocked 962 shots from the opposition, putting them 17th overall.

Advanced Statistics

The Kings start possessions in the offensive zone 50.7% of the time while their defensive zone percentage is at 49.3% for the year. That ranks them 14th and 18th respectively in the NHL. They have 1,953 face-off wins as opposed to 2,022 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 49.1%. That is 22nd in the league. On defense Los Angeles has 1,691 hits and they've blocked 969 attempts from opposing offenses, ranking them 15th in blocked shots. Los Angeles is ranked 15th in Corsi percentage with 49.5% as they've tried 3,819 shots on goal while at full strength while they have surrendered 3,903 shots on net when they have a full team on the ice. Their Fenwick percentage is 20th in the NHL at 49.3%, as they have 2,851 shots while they've given up 2,934 attempts on defense.

Who will win tonight's Capitals/Kings NHL game against the spread?

Josh's Pick: Take Washington +118

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