Washington Capitals vs Boston Bruins Prediction, 3/5/2021 NHL Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Washington Capitals vs Boston Bruins

Date: Friday, March 5, 2021

Location: TD Garden in Boston, MA

TV: NHL Network

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

Vitek Vanecek and the Washington Capitals (13-5-4) travel to TD Garden on Friday where they'll take on the Boston Bruins (12-5-3). The Bruins open this contest at -145 while the Capitals are coming in at +131. The total has been set at 6.

The Capitals were on the winning side of the scoreboard with a 2-1 victory over the Bruins in the last game they played. The Capitals didn't have a great showing offensively in this win. In the outing, they finished 2 of the 28 shots they tried. In addition, they had 2 attempts on the power play but weren't able to score. Washington earned 6 mins in the box in this contest. The Corsi for the Capitals came in at 50 and the Corsi against was 41 meaning they had a Corsi percentage of 54.9%. Their Fenwick came in at 43 and the Fenwick against was 31, giving them a Fenwick percentage of 58.1%. They tallied 25 face-off victories at even strength and were beaten on 28 opportunities to gain puck control. Their offensive zone starts sat at 57.5% and they had a PDO at even strength of 98.7 for this game.

The Capitals have had 650 shots tried against them and have a save percentage of .895. At even strength, the Capitals have allowed the opponent to score 54 goals while getting 57 as an offensive unit. Washington Capitals opponents have earned 72 power play tries (12th in professional hockey) and have notched 14 goals in those chances. For the current season, they have racked up 30 points and their points percentage comes in at .682. Washington has taken 634 shots and holds a shooting percentage of 11.5%. When talking about their scoring capabilities, the Washington Capitals have racked up 73 goals (5th in hockey) this year and have given up 68. Washington has accumulated 57 power play opportunities and they have added 16 goals during those chances, garnering them a percentage of 28.07%.

Protecting the goal for this matchup will be Vitek Vanecek. Vanecek has played in 18 matchups over the course of his hockey career. He has a win-loss record of 10-4-3 and he has started in 18 games. Opponents have racked up 48 goals versus Vanecek in his career and his goals against average per game is 2.69. Vanecek has had 536 shots against him and he has 488 saves. His save percentage is .910 during his 1,069 mins on the ice. For his professional hockey career, Vanecek has compiled 10 quality starts and his quality starts percentage is .556.

In their loss to Washington, Boston wrapped up this game with a 45.1% Corsi rating. These Corsi stats tell us the story of the kind of game Boston played and we'd say it was a below average outing in all. They had a Fenwick percentage of 41.9% by earning a Fenwick of 31 and the Capitals having a 43 Fenwick at even strength. They had a PDO of 101 and they finished this one with an oZS percentage of 42.5%. The Bruins tallied 1 goal out of the 19 shots on goal they took. They had 2 power play opportunities in this outing but didn't put one in the back of the net.

The Bruins are sitting with 43 goals at even strength and 15 goals (16th in the league) while having more men on the ice. Boston has attempted 629 shots (18th in the NHL) and has earned a shooting percentage of 9.22%, while allowing the opposition 521 shots. So far this year, the Boston Bruins have earned a total of 58 goals, 27 points, in addition to a points percentage of .675. They have earned 58 chances on the power play and they have earned a power play percentage of 25.86%. They have accumulated a penalty kill percentage of 88.24% on their oppositions 68 opportunities on the power play, and their save percentage currently comes in at 90.2%. They have permitted 51 goals to be scored by way of 43 goals at even strength and 8 goals while they were shorthanded.

For the opposition you are likely to see Jaroslav Halak in net. He has a tally of 13,751 stops out of 15,007 shots taken against him, which gives him a save percentage of .916. Halak is sitting with a career mark of 276-169-59 and has been in goal for 527 contests. He was named a starter in 491 games and has played 30,384 mins. Halak's rate of quality starts comes out to 56.6% and he has 278 quality starts in his pro hockey career. Teams are averaging 2.48 goals per game and he has relinquished 1,256 goals overall.

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

Tony's Pick: Take Washington (+131)

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