The Vegas Golden Knights and Washington Capitals meet Monday in NHL action at the Capital One Arena. The Vegas Golden Knights need a win after losing five of their last seven games. The Washington Capitals need a win after losing six of their last nine games.
The Vegas Golden Knights are averaging 3.5 goals per game and are scoring on 20.6 percent of their power play opportunities. Jonathan Marchessault leads Vegas with 19 goals, Chandler Stephenson has 26 assists and Reilly Smith has 110 shots on goal. Defensively, the Vegas Golden Knights are allowing 3 goals per game and are killing 77.8 percent of their opponent’s power plays. Robin Lehner has given up 83 goals on 860 shots faced, and Laurent Brossoit has allowed 33 goals on 330 shots.
The Washington Capitals are averaging 3.3 goals per game and are scoring on 14.8 percent of their power play opportunities. Alex Ovechkin leads Washington with 29 goals, Evgeny Kuznetsov has 28 assists and John Carlson has 93 shots on goal. Defensively, the Washington Capitals are allowing 2.7 goals per game and are killing 80 percent of their opponent’s power plays. Vitek Vanecek has given up 50 goals on 550 shots faced, and IIya Samsonov has allowed 55 goals on 566 shots.
The Golden Knights are 6-0 in their last 6 road games and 2-5 in their last 7 overall. The Capitals are 41-19 in their last 60 games as a favorite and 1-6 in their last 7 games following a win. The over is 3-1-1 in Golden Knights last 5 overall. The over is 5-1 in Capitals last 6 home games. The Golden Knights are 0-4 in the last 4 meetings in Washington and 2-6 in the last 8 meetings.
These are two talented teams used to winning, but they’ve both been struggling these last couple of weeks. The difference here is the Washington Capitals are at home here, and they’ve been ridiculous in the favorite role. Also, it doesn’t hurt that the Caps have gotten the better of the Golden Knights in most meetings. Cheap price, give me the Caps on their home ice.