Washington Capitals vs Columbus Blue Jackets Prediction, 1/5/2023 NHL Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Washington Capitals vs Columbus Blue Jackets

Date: Thursday, January 5, 2023

Location: Nationwide Arena in Columbus, OH

TV: Bally Sports Ohio

Odds/Point Spread: Capitals (-194) Blue Jackets (+160)

Nationwide Arena is the location where the Columbus Blue Jackets (11-23-2) will attempt to beat the Washington Capitals (21-13-6) on Thursday. The moneyline on this matchup has the Capitals at -194 while the Blue Jackets are at +160. The over/under is 6.

The Washington Capitals will look to clean up some issues after taking a 5-4 loss against the Sabres their last time on the ice. Washington earned 6 penalty minutes for this game. Furthermore, they had 1 attempt on the power play but weren't able to make the most of that try. The Capitals had a good offensive performance in the loss. In the game, they scored on 4 of the 32 shots they tried.

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When playing at even strength, the Capitals let the opposition score 89 goals while earning 103 on the offensive side of the ice. Washington Capitals opponents have 115 power play opportunities (23rd in the NHL) and have a total of 22 goals in those attempts. In terms of their scoring, the Washington Capitals have accumulated 131 goals (7th in the NHL) this year and have conceded 111. Washington has taken 1,263 shots and holds a shooting percentage of 10.4%. For the year, they have 48 points and their points % is .600. The Capitals so far have had 1,222 shots taken against them and have earned a save percentage of .909. Washington is sitting with 129 power play opportunities and they have tallied 28 goals out of those attempts, earning them a percentage of 21.71%.

The player between the pipes for this game is Darcy Kuemper. Throughout his time in hockey, Kuemper is sitting with 173 quality starts and his quality starts rate sits at .565. He has a save percentage of .918 for his 18,231 minutes played. Kuemper has seen 9,185 shot attempts taken against him and has recorded 8,428 total saves. Opponents have tallied 757 goals versus Kuemper in his pro career and his goals against rate is 2.49. He has compiled a win-loss record of 153-104-40 and he has gotten the start in 306 games. Kuemper has been in goal for 323 games over the course of his pro hockey career.

In their last outing, Columbus faced the Senators in a game where the Blue Jackets ended up taking the loss by a final score of 4-0. They had 3 power play opportunities in this contest but weren't able to notch a goal. The Blue Jackets scored 0 goals of the 22 shots on goal they pursued.

For the year, the Columbus Blue Jackets are sitting with 94 goals, 24 points, in addition to a points percentage of .333. They have allowed 141 goals to be scored by of a combination of 115 goals at even strength and 26 goals while they had less men on the ice. The Blue Jackets have earned 79 goals at even strength and 15 goals (32nd in pro hockey) while having a power play advantage. They have recorded 98 opportunities on the power play and they have accumulated a power play rate of 15.31%. Columbus has taken 1,051 shots (29th in pro hockey) and has earned a shot percentage of 8.94%, while allowing their opponents 1,271 shots. They have recorded a penalty kill rate of 77.97% on their opponents 118 tries on the power play, and their save percentage is 88.9%.

On the other side of the ice you are expected to see Joonas Korpisalo defending the goal. He has a tally of 5,088 saves out of 5,638 shots attempted against him, giving him a save % of .902. Korpisalo has earned a career mark of 81-74-22 and has played in 198 games. He has started in 178 contests and has played for a total of 10,830 mins. Korpisalo's quality start percentage sits at 47.2% and he has accumulated 84 quality starting assignments in his pro hockey career. Opponents are averaging 3.05 goals per contest and he has yielded 550 goals in total.

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

Tony's Pick: Take Washington (-194)

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