Washington Capitals vs New York Rangers Predictions, NHL Free Pick 3/5/2020

Game: Washington Capitals vs New York Rangers

Date: Thursday, March 5, 2020

Location: Madison Square Garden in New York City, NY

TV: MSG/NSWA

Odds/Point Spread: Capitals (-145) Rangers (+131)

Total/Over-Under: 6.5

Braden Holtby and the Washington Capitals (40-19-6, 1st in the Metropolitan Division) travel to Madison Square Garden on Thursday where they'll meet the New York Rangers (35-27-4, 7th in the Metropolitan Division). The line on this matchup has the Capitals coming in at -145 and the Rangers are at +131. The O/U is set at 6.5. The Capitals cover 59.0% of the time, having gone 36-25 SU. New York covers 52.3% of the time, going 34-31 straight up.

The Washington Capitals head into this game holding a record of 40 wins and 19 defeats, ranking them 1st in the Metropolitan Division. Thus far in the season, they have converted a total of 222 goals which ranks 3rd in the Eastern Conference and 3rd in the NHL. Their goal differential is +25, ranking them 7th in the NHL. The Capitals have a total of 86 pts, which ranks 5th in the NHL and 3rd in the conference. In terms of shots at the opposition, they have a total of 2,082 which ranks 7th in the Eastern Conference and 15th in the NHL. As a group, Washington has racked up a total of 1,518 hits which means they have an average of 23.4 per contest. They have a total of 715 blocks for this year. Protecting the net for Washington is Braden Holtby from Lloydminster, Saskatchewan. He is 30 years old and has played a total of 2,558 minutes defending the goal for the year. Holtby is surrendering an average of 3.12 GAA which ranks him 26th among East goalies and 54th in the NHL among goalies. During this year, he has given up 133 goals. He's earned a save percentage of .898 which ranks him 28th among East goalies.

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The Washington Capitals were on the winning side of the scoreboard with a 4 - 3 victory over the Minnesota Wild in their previous contest. The Capitals had a solid offensive performance in the win. For this matchup, they earned a goal on 4 out of the 30 shots they put on net. In addition, they had 2 power play opportunities and netted 1 goal out of those opportunities. Washington had a total of 19 penalty mins for this outing. The Corsi for the Capitals sat at 45 and the Corsi against was 54 which earned them a Corsi percentage of 45.5%. Their Fenwick sat at 36 and the Fenwick against sat at 40, which gave them a Fenwick percentage of 47.4%. They won 18 face-off wins at even strength and lost 30 of the face-offs. The offensive zone starts for them were rated at 42.9% and they had a PDO at even strength of 108.6 in this one. In discussing stats from the opponent, the Minnesota Wild tallied 40 shots. They ended the game with 15 minutes in the box and they earned 4 power play attempts.

The Rangers will be looking to add points to their total and for the campaign they have 35 victories and 27 losses. In discussing goal differential, they are ranked 8th in the Eastern Conference and 11th in the league with +13. They have a total of 217 goals for the year which ranks 6th in the East. New York has a save % as a team of .910 which is good for 9th in the league, meaning scoring chances could present themselves. They are shooting 10.6% putting them at 4th in the conference. In net for New York is Alexandar Georgiev who is having a tough campaign by surrendering 2.98 GAA and that places him 23rd among East goalies and 48th among goaltenders in the NHL. In the 1,770 mins he's been on the ice this year, he's given up 88 goals. He's earned a save percentage of .912, which has him ranked 14th among East goalies and 30th among goaltenders in the NHL.

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The New York Rangers went up against the St. Louis Blues in a game where the Rangers ended up taking the loss by a final score of 3 - 1. In this outing, New York wound up with a 59.3% Corsi rating. They wound up with that percentage by having a Corsi of 48 and their opponent having a Corsi of 33. Their Fenwick percentage came in at 62.9% by notching a Fenwick of 39 and the Blues ending the game with a 23 Fenwick. These Corsi stats speak to the kind of game that New York played and we'd say it was a below average outing in all. Their PDO at even strength was 88.2 and they earned an oZS percentage of 78.9%. The Rangers scored 1 goal out of the 26 shots on goal they were seeking. They had 3 power play chances in this game and were able to net 1 out of those attempts. On the other side of the ice, the Blues had 1 power play attempt and went on to score 1 goal. New York gave up 22 shots on goal and the Blues racked up 6 penalty mins.

Who will win tonight's NHL game ATS?

Josh's Pick: Take New York (+131)

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