Colorado Looks To Keep Rolling Against the Visiting Capitals
Capitals vs Avalanche Game Odds Has Host Colorado Favored to Top Washington
Daunting Road Trip Continues For The Struggling Capitals
The last few days in the month of January could be a little challenging for Washington with road games against Western Conference powers Colorado and Dallas. Colorado is listed as the favorite according to the Capitals vs Avalanche game odds. This will be the sixth straight matchup when the Avalanche is favored to win.
Colorado has won the last two games against Washington, outscoring the Capitals 7-2 in the two games played between the teams last season.
The NHL betting lines list Colorado with -250 odds to keep on rolling at home. Those brave souls who want to go with the underdog Capitals would get a nice payout if Washington comes through with the upset with a +230 Moneyline.
Washington continues to be without forwards Sonny Milano and Nicklas Backstrom.
Colorado is expected to have defenseman Bowen Byram back. However, forwards Artturi Lehkonen and Valeri Nichushkin are both out.
When looking at the NHL standings, Colorado is a point behind Winnipeg in the Central Division while Washington is 50 points out of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference in large part due to the struggles to win on the road.
Colorado is tied with Edmonton for the best odds of winning the Stanley Cup title while Washington is well back at +15000 in the championship odds.
Capitals vs Avalanche 
Records: Washington Capitals 22-17-6 at Colorado Avalanche 30-14-3
Location: Ball Arena, Denver, CO
Day/Time:
Streaming: Altitude, Monumental Sports 2, ESPN+
Rough Start to the Road Trip
After being shut out by St. Louis in the first game of a four-game road trip against Western Conference teams, Washington gave up two goals in the first five minutes in a loss to Minnesota.
Goals by T.J. Oshie and Anthony Mantha in the final three minutes made it a 5-3 final but it was never that close as Washington fell under .500 on the road. Keep that in mind when it comes to the Capitals vs Avalanche game odds.
It doesn’t get much easier with a trip to Colorado. If there is a bright spot, it is that Washington is 6-2-1 in the second game when playing on back-to-back days. However, the wins came against the New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, Anaheim Ducks, Chicago Blackhawks, Carolina Panthers, and Columbus Blue Jackets. Carolina is the only one of those teams currently in playoff position.
The total has gone under in five of Washington’s last seven games.
MacKinnon Taking Control
Since the start of December, nobody has been producing as consistently as veteran Colorado center Nathan MacKinnon.
MacKinnon has points in 24 of 25 games during that stretch. His 30 assists and 48 points in those 25 games are the most in the NHL. If he kept that pace up for an 82-game season, he would have 59 goals and 98 assists. He is a major reason why the Capitals vs Avalanche game odds have Colorado favored for the 25th home game in a row.
Fourteen of his goals have come at even strength and his five game-winning goals are second only to Vancouver’s Elias Pettersson. He is going to be a popular choice when it comes to NHL picks and parlays for this game.
With the way MacKinnon is playing, it should not be a surprise to those who bet online to learn that each of Colorado’s last five games went over the total.
Last Meeting
Logan O’Connor had two assists and Alexandar Georgiev had 37 saves as Colorado never trailed in a 3-2 home win against the Capitals.
Despite a late goal by Alexander Ovechkin, the game landed under the six-goal total as it was the third straight matchup between the Capitals and Avalanche to go under the total.
The visiting team had won four of the previous five games between the teams.
Capitals vs Avalanche Betting Preview
The total has gone over in Colorado’s last nine games against Eastern Conference teams with Colorado scoring 42 goals in those games. The total is set at six for this matchup.
When making NHL score predictions, keep in mind that the Avalanche is 9-1 in the last 10 games at home and 5-2 over the last seven matchups against Metropolitan Division teams.
Colorado has covered 14 of its 23 home games with 13 of those games going over the total.
Washington has lost eight of its last 12 games against Western Conference teams.
The Capitals have lost nine of their last 11 games when listed as a road underdog.
Four of the last six games for Washington as a road underdog went over the total. However, in two of the last three, a total of three goals were scored each time.
Colorado has not only won nine of its last 10 games at home, six of those wins have come by at least two goals. Don’t be surprised to see both of those trends continue in this matchup with the game likely heading over the total as well.
