Pittsburgh Penguins vs Washington Capitals Predictions, Free NHL Picks 2/23/2020

Game: Pittsburgh Penguins vs Washington Capitals

Date: Sunday, February 23, 2020

Location: Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.

TV: NBC

Odds/Point Spread: Penguins (+122) Capitals (-135)

Total/Over-Under: 6.5

Capital One Arena is the venue where Braden Holtby and the Washington Capitals (37-17-6, 2nd in the Metropolitan Division) will take on the Pittsburgh Penguins (37-16-6, 1st in the Metropolitan Division) on Sunday. The odds on this matchup have the Penguins coming in at +122 and the Capitals are at -135. The total has been set at 6.5. The Penguins are covering 60.7% of the time, having gone 34-22 SU. Washington is covering 59.7% of the time, going 34-23 straight up.

The Pittsburgh Penguins head into this game holding a record of 37 victories and 16 defeats, which is good for 1st in the Metropolitan Division. During the year thus far, they have racked up a total of 193 goals which has them at 8th in the Eastern Conference and 11th in the NHL. Their goal differential is +35, which is good for 4th in the NHL. The Penguins currently have a total of 80 pts, which has them at 4th in the NHL and 4th in the Eastern Conference. In discussing shots at the opposition, they currently have a total of 1,872 which has them at 10th in the East and 19th in the NHL. As a team, Pittsburgh has racked up a total of 1,555 hits which means they are averaging 26.4 per game. They currently have a total of 668 blocks for this season. The man in net for Pittsburgh is Tristan Jarry from Surrey, British Columbia. He is 24 years old and has totaled 1,688 minutes defending the net for the campaign. Jarry is surrendering 2.13 GAA which has him ranking 2nd among East goaltenders and 2nd among goalies in the NHL. Over the course of this year, he has surrendered 60 goals. He holds a save percentage of .931 which has him ranking 4th among East goaltenders.

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The Pittsburgh Penguins had a rough game after their 4 - 0 loss against the Toronto Maple Leafs the last time they stepped on the ice. The Penguins had a below average offensive performance in the loss. For this game, they finished 0 of the 24 shots they tried. In addition, they had 1 power play chance but weren't able to notch a goal in these power play chances. Pittsburgh ended up with 11 penalty mins for this game. The Corsi for the Penguins sat at 50 and the Corsi against was 58 which means they had a Corsi percentage of 46.3%. Their Fenwick sat at 30 while the Fenwick against was 42, which tells us they had a rate of 41.7%. They took 18 face-off wins and lost 28 of all total face-offs. The offensive zone starts for them were rated at 55.2% and they had a PDO at even strength of 88.9 in this game. Regarding their opponent, the Toronto Maple Leafs tallied a total of 30 shots. Their total at the end of the game was 7 penalty mins and they earned 3 power play attempts.

The Capitals are the team on the other side of the ice and for the campaign they sit with 37 victories and 17 defeats. When discussing goal differential, they are ranked 4th in the conference and 5th in the NHL with +26. They have a total of 208 goals for the year which ranks them 4th in the East. Washington has a save % as a team of .898 which currently has them ranked 24th in the NHL, which tells us there could be plenty of chances to score if they are aggressive. They have a shooting percentage of 10.8% which is good for 2nd in the conference. In goal for Washington is Braden Holtby who is having a tough year by giving up 3.14 GAA and that has him 26th among Eastern Conference goaltenders and 56th among goaltenders in the NHL. In the 2,373 mins he has been on the ice, he's given up 124 goals. He holds a save percentage of .896, which ranks him 29th among Eastern Conference goaltenders and 58th among goaltenders in the NHL.

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The Washington Capitals squared up with the Montreal Canadiens in a matchup where the Capitals went home in defeat by a mark of 4 - 3. For this outing, Washington went home with a 46.0% Corsi rating. They wound up with that percentage by having a Corsi of 52 while their opponent earned a Corsi of 61. Their Fenwick rate came in at 43.7% with a Fenwick of 38 and the Canadiens having a 49 Fenwick. This Corsi rating is telling of the kind of game that Washington had and you can say they had a mediocre outing. Their PDO was 96.5 and they'll go home having earned an oZS percentage of 52.9%. The Capitals scored 3 goals out of the 32 shots on goal they tried. They had 1 power play chance in this game but weren't able to score a goal. Concerning the opposition, the Canadiens had 1 power play attempt but didn't tally a goal. Washington gave up 32 shots on goal and the Canadiens ended up with 2 penalty minutes.

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

Guy's Pick: Take Washington (-135)

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