Washington Capitals vs. Boston Bruins - 12/23/19 NHL Picks, Odds, and Prediction

Game: Washington Capitals vs Boston Bruins

Date: Monday, December 23, 2019

Location: TD Garden in Boston, MA

TV: NESN/NSWA

Odds/Point Spread: Capitals (+109) Bruins (-120)

Total/Over-Under: 6

Tuukka Rask and the Boston Bruins (21-7-9, 1st in the Atlantic Division) host the Washington Capitals (26-6-5, 1st in the Metropolitan Division) at TD Garden on Monday, December 23, 2019. The odds on this matchup have the Capitals priced at +109 and the Bruins are at -120. The O/U opens at 6. The Capitals are covering 67.7% of the time, having gone 23-11 SU. Boston is covering 56.8% of the time, going 21-16 straight up.

The Washington Capitals head into this game holding a record of 26 victories and 6 defeats, which is good for 1st in the Metropolitan Division. During the year thus far, they have earned a total of 131 goals which has them sitting at 1st in the Eastern Conference and 1st in the NHL. Their goal differential is +29, which is good for 2nd in the NHL. The Capitals currently have a total of 57 pts, which has them sitting at 1st in the NHL and 1st in the conference. When looking at shots at the opposing goalie, they currently have a total of 1,162 which has them sitting at 8th in the conference and 12th in the NHL. As a team, Washington has racked up a total of 834 hits which has them averaging 22.5 per contest. They currently have a total of 420 blocks for the season. The man looking after the net for Washington is Braden Holtby from Lloydminster, Saskatchewan. He is 30 years old and has been on the ice a total of 1,527 mins protecting the goal for the season. Holtby is surrendering 2.75 GAA which places him at 13th among East goaltenders and 24th among goaltenders in the NHL. So far this season, he has surrendered 70 goals. His save percentage is .911 which places him at 14th among East goaltenders.

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The Washington Capitals were on the winning side of the scoreboard with a 3 - 1 victory against the Tampa Bay Lightning the last time they stepped on the ice. The Capitals had a middle of the road offensive output in the victory. In this game, they scored on 3 out of the 35 shots they put on net. In addition, they had 3 power play opportunities but didn't get a goal. Washington earned 14 penalty mins for this outing. The Corsi for the Capitals sat at 48 and the Corsi against was 37 giving them a Corsi percentage of 56.5%. Their Fenwick sat at 34 and the Fenwick against was 26, which earned them a rate of 56.7%. They earned 22 face-off wins and were beaten on 22 of the face-offs. Their offensive zone starts were rated at 52.0% and they had a PDO of 101.9 for this matchup. Concerning opponent stats, the Tampa Bay Lightning put up 27 shots. They ended the game with 6 penalty minutes and they earned 7 power play chances.

The Bruins are the team on the other side of the ice and for the season they sit with 21 victories and 7 losses. When it comes to goal differential, they are ranked 1st in the East and 1st in the league with +31. They currently have a total of 123 goals for this season which ranks them 3rd in the East. Boston has a save percentage as a team of .919 which has them 3rd in the league, which means chances to score may be limited. They have a team shooting percentage of 10.4% putting them at 5th in the Eastern Conference. In net for Boston is Tuukka Rask who is having an ok year by giving up 2.29 goals per game and that has him 3rd among Eastern Conference goaltenders and 6th in the NHL among goaltenders. In the 1,335 minutes he has played, he has allowed 51 goals. He holds a save percentage of .922, which has him ranking 6th among Eastern Conference goaltenders and 13th in the NHL among goaltenders.

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The Boston Bruins faced off against the Nashville Predators in a game where the Bruins ended up losing by a tally of 4 - 3. For this game, Boston earned a 54.3% Corsi rating. They got there by having a Corsi of 50 and their opponent having a Corsi of 42. Their Fenwick rate came in at 56.5% by notching a Fenwick of 39 and the Predators having a 30 Fenwick. This Corsi rating is telling of the kind of game that Boston played and it tells us they had an average game overall. They had a PDO of 89.0 and their percentage of oZS was 57.4%. The Bruins netted 3 goals of the 32 shots on goal they attempted. They had 4 power play chances in this outing and were able to convert 1 out of those tries. As for their opponent, the Predators had 3 power play chances but were not able to take advantage. Boston conceded 29 shots on goal and the Predators earned a total of 8 minutes in the box.

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

Tony's Pick: Take Washington (+109)

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