Arizona Coyotes (2-13 SU, 5-10 PL, 11-3-1 O/U) vs Washington Capitals (7-7 SU, 6-8 PL, 9-5-0 O/U)
When: 7:05 PM EDT, Monday, November 6, 2017
Where: Verizon Center in Washington D.C.
Lines: Washington -225/ Arizona +201
Total: 6
NHL Hockey action on Monday evening and the Arizona Coyotes will invade the Verizon Center in Washington D.C. to rumble with the Washington Capitals in a matchup of inter-conference foes. The Coyotes come in off a 2-1 home win over Carolina in a shootout, while the Capitals are off a 3-2 road win over the Bruins. Goalie Probables: Antti Raanta will get the nod for the Coyotes and the Capitals will counter with Braden Holtby.
Arizona Grabs 2nd Win Of The Year
The Arizona Coyotes needed 12 games to get their first win of the year, but maybe things are looking up as they have now won two of their last four games after taking out the Hurricanes at home by a score of 2-1 in a shootout. Clayton Keller has been the lone bright spot on this team this year and he scored their lone goal in regulation for them. It was his 10th of the year. That gave the Coyotes a 1-0 lead and the Hurricanes eventually tied it with just 2:25 left in the game. The Coyotes eventually won the game in the shootout and getting the deciding goal was Derek Stepan. This is still a very weak team with no offense and major issues in the crease and will probably be the worst team in the league all year. The Coyotes are just 1-7 on the road for the year so far. Grabbing the win against the Hurricanes was Antti Raanta, who stopped 36 of the 37 shots that he faced. He is now 1-3 with a 3.12 GAA and a .911 save percentage on the year. In his career, he has gone 24-18 with a 2.65 GAA on the road and 8-3 with a 2.19 GAA during the month of November, while against the Metro Division he has gone 12-9 with a 2.58 GAA, including 1-1 with a 2.59 GAA against the Capitals.
The Coyotes have been very poor on off this year as they come in ranked 28th in the league in scoring at 2.47 gpg, while also ranking 20th in shots taken (31.1 spg) and 22nd in power play conversions, converting on 16.0.% of their chances. At the defensive end of the ice, they have been very poor as they come in ranked 30th in goals allowed, giving up 4.07 gpg, while also ranking 17th in shots allowed (32.3 spg) and 28th in penalty kill, allowing teams to convert on 27.9% of their chances.
Capitals Defeat Rask Again
The Washington Capitals have fought back to a .500 record on the year after taking down the Boston Bruins by a score of 3-2 on Saturday night. The Capitals beat Tuukka Rask in that game and they have now won 15 of the 16 meetings with the Boston goalie in his career. They just don’t lose to that guy and now they have their sights set on getting above .500 as they will be taking on the worst team in the league. Scoring in the win over the Bruins was Tom Wilson, who scored twice, which were his 1st two of the year and Alex Ovechkin, which was his team-leading 11th of the year. The Capitals have gone just 2-3 at home so far. Braden Holtby grabbed the win against the Bruins and is now 12-2 with a 1.81 GAA in his career against the Bruins. He has really owned that team. Holtby is 7-3 with a 2.79 GAA and a .921 save percentage on the year overall, including 2-2 with a 2.03 GAA and a .944 GAA at home. In his career, he has gone 104-50 with a 2.14 GAA in his home games and 33-18 with a 2.38 GAA during the month of November, plus he is 20-15 with a 2.77 GAA against the Pacific Division, while against the Coyotes in his career he has gone 3-1 with a 2.54 GAA.
The Capitals come into this game ranked 17th in the league in scoring at 3.00 gpg, while also ranking 30th in shots taken (28.4 spg) and 17th in power play conversions, converting on 18.6% of their chances. At the defensive end of the ice, they have not been great in the early going as they rank 24th in goals allowed, giving up 3.29 gpg, while also ranking 26th in shots allowed (34.0 spg) and 27th in penalty kill, allowing teams to convert on 25.4% of their chances.
Trends
Arizona is:
- 28-60 in their last 88 vs. the Eastern Conference
- 17-42 in their last 59 after scoring two goals or less in their previous game
Washington is:
- 43-14 in their last 57 games playing on one day’s rest
- 15-6 in their last 21 vs. a team with a winning % below .400
The Arizona Coyotes are 2-2 in their last four games, after going 0-1 through their first 11 games. The Washington Capitals are off to a mediocre and they are just 2-3 at home, but they have won three of their last four games overall and have huge edges in the crease and on offense. That offense has sputtered of late, but it is still far better than that of Arizona’s, plus the Coyotes are very weak in the crease. Holtby is a great goalie at home and the home team has won the last four in this series. I look for a very easy win by the Capitals in this one.