The Colorado Avalanche (10-9-0) take on the Washington Capitals (13-4-1) Thursday. Puck drop from Capital One Arena is set for 7 p.m. ET (ESPN+). Let’s analyze BetMGM Sportsbook’s NHL odds around the Avalanche vs. Capitals odds and make our expert NHL picks and predictions.
Season series: Capitals lead 1-0
The Avs have won 4 of 5 games after a 3-2 victory over the Flyers in Philadelphia Monday. D Cale Makar scored his 7th and 8th goals of the season in that one. That one loss was at home to these Capitals, 5-2 on Friday.
The Caps swept a 3-game road trip with wins in Colorado, Vegas and Utah by scores of 5-2, 5-2 and 6-2. The problem, though, is they lost LW Alex Ovechkin (leg) for multiple weeks. The Caps are 26-29-4 without Ovi since his career began.
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Avalanche at Capitals odds
Provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list of NHL odds. Lines last updated at 2:03 p.m. ET.
- Moneyline (ML): Avalanche -150 (bet $150 to win $100) | Capitals +125 (bet $100 to win $125)
- Puck line (PL)/Against the spread (ATS): Avalanche -1.5 (+170) | Capitals +1.5 (-210)
- Over/Under (O/U): 6.5 (O: -105 | U: -115)
Avalanche at Capitals projected goalies
Justus Annunen (6-3-0, 2.81 GAA, .886 SV%) vs. Logan Thompson (8-0-1, 2.63 GAA, .913 SV%)
Annunen is running as the starter with Alexandar Georgiev sidelined with an injury. Annunen has been stable, but unspectacular thus far. He allowed 2 goals on 26 shots against the Flyers Monday, and that snapped a 4-start streak of allowing 3+ goals. He started the Caps Game and was pulled in the 2nd period after allowing 3 goals on 6 shots.
The tandem of Thompson and Charlie Lindgren have been awesome, and that’s why the Caps are 11-4-1 on the season. Thompson was the starter in Vegas before Adin Hill took the net in that Stanley Cup run, and the 27-year-old Thompson is re-emerging. He has allowed more than 2 goals once in in his last 5 starts. He hasn’t faced the Avs in a couple of years, and he went 1-1-0 with a 2.55 GAA and .907 SV%.
Avalanche at Capitals picks and predictions
Prediction
Capitals 3, Avalanche 2
Moneyline
The Caps lost Ovechkin, which now makes them underdogs, right? Well, maybe that loss won’t be felt as much as you would think. Will their power play suffer? Absolutely. But Ovechkin sits in a spot, and his teammates have fed him the puck in his pursuit of Wayne Gretzky’s goal record.
Maybe things open up offensively now. But the major reason I like Washington here is Thompson between the pipes. He’s very close to taking this net from Lindgren.
Take the CAPITALS +125.
Puck line/Against the spread
There’s a bit of juice applied, but I LOVE LOGAN THOMPSON UNDER 3.5 GOALS ALLOWED (-165) BetMGM has a 20% NHL odds boost token to bring that down a bit, but Thompson has only allowed 4+ goals in 2 of 9 starts.
Over/Under
Under for all of the reasons above. Even if Colorado manages to win this game, it’s still not going to be a 4-3 kind of game. Washington is 4-0-1 O/U the last 5, but Ovechkin is out. Colorado is 0-2-2 O/U in the last 4.
Take the UNDER 6.5 (-115).
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