A marquee cross-conference showdown takes place in D.C. Tuesday night as the Washington Capitals play host to the St. Louis Blues. As points become even more important, and the games become tighter, both of these veteran-laden squads know what’s at stake. Both St. Louis and Washington have won Stanley Cups in recent seasons, and know what it takes. We should see some evidence of that in what promises to be a hard-fought matchup on Tuesday night.
The Caps enter holding onto the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. It’s not a particularly precarious lead, but you can bet Washington will be motivated to raise their status within the standings. They’ll get TJ Oshie back into the lineup today, and enter with a 7-2-1 mark across their past ten games. Vitek Vanecek is slated to go between the pipes, and the young Czech netminder has been excellent of late.
For the Blues, they’ll take to the road still without two of their top talents in Vlad Tarasenko and Robert Thomas. That’ll significantly hurt their depth, but they too are comfortably in a playoff position. With Jordan Binnington struggling this year, look for Finnish goalie Ville Husso to again get the call in net. They enter Tuesday night in a bit of a funk however, only winning three of their past ten games. It’s very much time for this talented group to flip the switch and start gearing up for another lengthy Cup run.
With both clubs desperately jostling for improved playoff position as we approach the month of May, expect a tight and hard-fought battle in the nation’s capital tonight. Can Ovechkin continue to chase goal-scoring records? Or will the Blues’ stingy defense stymie the talented Russian? Continue reading on beneath the posted odds for answers to those questions, as well as added insight, trends, news, and betting analysis for tonight’s big game.
Alex Ovechkin just passed Jaromir Jagr to become the 3rd all-time NHL goal scorer ?? pic.twitter.com/J1WrsiYhQg
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 16, 2022
St. Louis Blues vs. Washington Capitals Live Odds & Betting History
*These odds are provided by BetOnline.ag
| TEAM DATA | BLUES | CAPITALS |
| Overall Record | 28-29-4 | 35-27-2 |
| ATS Record | 34-27 | 34-30 |
| Home/Away Record | 14-11-4 | 15-12-6 |
| Goals Per Game | 3.6 | 3.3 |
| Goals Against Per Game | 2.8 | 2.8 |
| Shots On Goal Per Game | 30.6 | 31.7 |
| Shooting % | 11.5 | 10.4 |
St. Louis Blues vs. Washington Capitals Prediction:
Though the Caps did lose their last game, this is still a team hitting its stride at precisely the right moment. Winners of seven of their past nine games, look for Ovechkin and the Capitals to continue their momentum against the fading Blues.
Washington’s top line of Ovechkin, along with Tom Wilson and Evgeny Kuznetsov have secured dominating results in recent outings to pace the Caps during this stretch. They’ve tilted the ice at even strength, and with the benefit of last change on Tuesday night, look for head coach Peter Laviolette to take full advantage and put that trio against the weaker D pairings from St. Louis.
In goal, Vitek Vanecek has really stepped up as well to form an impressive tandem with Ilya Samsonov. Vanecek enters this game riding a .918 save percentage on the season, and has allowed just 2.37 goals against per game. We’d expect Washington to control much of the shot metrics as has been the norm for them during this streak, but Vanecek can be counted upon to make the big save.
The Blues roll into DC without Thomas or Tarasenko, severely thinning out their top-six. Offense has been a struggle of late aside from the play of David Perron, and though they get good offensive play out of Torey Krug and Justin Faulk – this is a defensive group that is struggling to keep pucks out. They’ve been getting hemmed in by opposing teams on the forecheck, can’t kill cycle plays, and Ville Husso’s miraculous run is starting to fade. It’s going to be tough for the fading Blues to keep Washington off of the scoresheet on Tuesday evening.
David Perron is very good at hockey. pic.twitter.com/OXjn6reLnP
— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) March 20, 2022
Blues vs. Capitals Trends To Know:
- Blues are 1-4 in their last 5 road games.
- Blues are 1-5 in their last 6 vs. Metropolitan.
- Blues are 1-6 in their last 7 vs. Eastern Conference.
- Capitals are 4-1 in their last 5 overall.
- Capitals are 7-3 in their last 10 games playing on 1 days rest.
- Over is 4-1 in Blues last 5 overall.
Look for the Capitals to defend home ice on Tuesday night, despite not playing their best at Capital One Arena so far this year. They’re the healthier bunch and injecting Marcus Johansson into their lineup should really help their depth within their bottom-six. The Blues are struggling badly right now, and don’t have the depth to overcome two key offensive losses. With a fading Husso in goal, look for Washington to rack up some goals in this cross-conference showdown. Roll with the Caps at home.
