Capitals vs. Devils NHL Preview and Best Bet (Archive)
The Capitals are looking for back-to-back NHL wins here as they travel to New Jersey to face the Devils. The Capitals opened as favorites here and they have a strong record against the Devils in recent times, but can they overcome a strong Devils home record? Let’s get into the NHL odds for this game!
Washington Capitals vs. New Jersey Devils
Thursday, October 21, 2021 – 07:00 PM EDT at Prudential Center
Washington Seek First Road Victory of the Season
The Capitals have started off their season in a positive manner, winning two of their three opening games. Their last game saw them claim an impressive 6-3 win over the Stanley Cup favorites, Colorado Avalanche. Evgeny Kuznetsov picked up three points in that game with two goals and one assist. The Caps put up a total of 40 shots in their win over Colorado and arguably have had a more difficult opening schedule to date than their New Jersey counterparts.
The Capitals have only allowed two goals per game thus far this season and given their impressive record over the Devils in recent years, they will be confident of a victory.
Devils Have Been Strong on Home Ice
The New Jersey Devils have been hot on home ice stretching back to last season, they have won seven of their previous eight home games and will be quietly confident they can get an important division win here to leapfrog the Capitals in the table. They have been playing well and only one point separate’s the two teams. With that being said, they had to take the Blackhawks to overtime to get the win there and before their seven wins in eight on home ice, they went on an eight-game losing streak at home.
The Devils have been somewhat of a surprise package thus far this season and have averaged four goals per game and only allowed 2.5. Will they be able to keep up the scoring chances and allow the Capitals to less than two goals? If so, we think they have a chance to win here.
Team Trends
*Trends should never be your main source of information when it comes to making your betting picks, they are merely guidelines and mostly irrelevant information but nonetheless can be interesting to read.
Washington Capitals
- The total has gone over in nine of Washington’s last 11 games played in October.
- Washington are 6-1 in their last seven games when playing on the road against New Jersey.
- Washington are 8-0 in their last eight games against New Jersey.
New Jersey Devils
- The total has gone over in four of New Jersey’s last six games against an opponent in the Eastern Conference.
- New Jersey are 5-1 in their last six games at home.
- New Jersey are 7-3 in their last ten games.
What Are The Betting Odds and Current Lines?
Moneyline: The Washington Capitals opened up at -167 on the moneyline but have since been pushed out to -120. If you think the Devils are worth a play here, they are currently best priced at +110.
Total: The total line is set at 6.5, with the juice leaning towards the under at odds of -125, you can back the over 6.5 for +113.
Puck Line: When looking at the puck line we can get the favorites, Washington at -1.5 for +180, which is a considerable set of odds for a team of their caliber to win by two or more. The Devils on home ice at +1.5 are available at -215.
Betting Prediction
We are going out on a limb here and think a combo bet is the best value as we like both the Capitals ML and the under 6.5. Both teams have been strong defensively and we have to think that the Devils are going to favor a more defensive approach against this top-heavy Capitals attack.
The Devils goaltender is questionable at the moment, hence the reason the line is probably set at 6.5, but regardless of this we see the Devils struggling to score, so although they might have a backup goaltender in net, and might concede a few to the Capitals, we can’t see them scoring a ton of goals here.
Capitals 4-2 or 5-1 are our most likely predictions so bank on these NHL picks for today.
NHL Pick: Capitals + Under 6.5 (+250) at BetOnline (visit our BetOnline Review)
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.