by Chuck Sommers
Thursday, Feb 16, 2023
Time: 7 p.m. ET
Venue: Capital One Arena, Washington, DC
Where to watch: BSFL, NBCSWA
Opening Odds at USA Sportsbooks
DraftKings: Panthers -120, Capitals +100
FanDuel: Panthers -120, Capitals +100
BetMGM: Panthers -125, Capitals +105
Caesars: Panthers -120, Capitals +100
Season record
Panthers: 27-24-6
Capitals: 28-22-6
The All-Star break is over, the second half of the NHL season can officially begin, and we're bound for what should be a very exciting second half of the hockey season. Basketball and hockey are about to rule the roost in the sports betting world once the Super Bowl is done with, and we should all be very excited for what's to come. When the trade deadline hits and players switch teams, you know things are about to get hectic over these final 30 games or so. One way you can stay tuned with the action is following what our champion handicappers are doing in the world of the NHL. Look at ASA, Inc., reeling in a $6,750 profit off a 17-9-0 run. Al McMordie is also doing well on the ice with a 13-5-0 run and a net profit of $6,050. Scott Rickenbach has also been hanging strong with a lot of betting action, in what's been an unusual year, with a 24-18-0 run and reeling in $5,950. You know this action is going to be great now that games are back and a busy second half if on the horizon. All you need to do is head to our BEST BETS page at bigal.com to find out all of what we're trying to tell you. Make sure you're locked in at bigal.com and go to our Best Bets page to find out what our champion handicappers have to say in the world of the NHL!
Panthers - Capitals preview, prediction and analysis
Recent results
Panthers: lost 6-2 at Blues
Capitals: lost 3-2 vs. Hurricanes
The Florida Panthers will be playing the Washington Capitals on Thursday, February 16 in Washington.
The Florida Panthers lost against the St. Louis Blues last Tuesday, February 14 at Enterprise Center in St. Louis with a score of 6-2. The Florida Panthers currently rank 4th in the Atlantic Division.
Carter Verhaeghe had a goal and an assist, Matthew Tkachuk had two assists, and Spencer Knight made 22 saves in his first game since Jan. 8 for the Panthers (27-24-6), who had won four of five following a 2-1 shootout victory at the Minnesota Wild on Monday.
"We were getting our looks," Verhaeghe said. "I think we were just giving them a ton of looks off the rush and weren't at our best tonight. It's a little frustrating, but [Binnington] played well too.
"We want to win every game, but we know it's not possible. We just want to keep building our game and trying to get better every night, and I think we're on the right track, but tonight wasn't our best."
St. Louis had a goal called back when Justin Faulk scored at 15:07, but Florida challenged for a high stick on a puck before the goal, and it was determined that Thomas played Knight's clear around the boards with a high stick at 14:50.
Eetu Luostarinen cut it to 3-1 at 18:44, finishing off a Tkachuk pass in front. Verhaeghe made it 5-2 at 13:28 on a wrist shot from the high slot high glove side.
"I don't want to look for an excuse for us to lose the game because we had some momentum, we had some good chances," Panthers defenseman Radko Gudas said. "We had good chances to come back; I believed in our group all the way until the end. I thought the first two periods we had Grade-A chances that I thought if we could have buried, the game could have gone differently."
The Florida Panthers have won five of their last 10 games.
The Washington Capitals lost against the Carolina Hurricanes last Tuesday, February 14 at Capitol One Arena in Washington with a score of 3-2. The Washington Capitals currently rank 5th in the Metropolitan Division.
Joe Snively scored his first goal of the season and had an assist for the Capitals (28-22-6), who have lost two in a row. Darcy Kuemper made 27 saves.
The Capitals played without forward Alex Ovechkin, who is expected to be away from the team for at least the remainder of the week to attend to a family matter.
Snively, who played his seventh game of the season, was called up from Hershey of the American Hockey League on Tuesday and replaced Aliaksei Protas, who was a late scratch.
"The plan was just to take warmups in case of emergency, and I got the [word I was playing] right before warmups," Snively said.
The Capitals appeared to tie it when Trevor van Riemsdyk knocked in a loose puck during at scramble in front at 9:39 of the third, but the goal was overturned after the Hurricanes challenged for goaltender interference. Video review determined T.J. Oshie impaired Andersen's ability to play his position.
Oshie said, "Disallowed goal, that's the way she goes. Wish I would've been able to get off him a little bit. I felt like there was no room behind me to really move once I got down there. It was just kind of unfortunate, but I thought the guys played hard tonight and you know, we had other chances to score for sure."
Brent Burns gave Carolina a 1-0 lead at 15:00 of the first period when he scored on a wrist shot through traffic from the point. Oshie tied it 1-1 at 19:02, driving to the net and converting a crossing pass from Snively on the rush. The Hurricanes went in front 2-1 at 2:33 of the second when Calvin de Haan's shot from the point deflected off Stastny in the left face-off circle. Snively tied it 2-2 at 6:23, taking a pass from van Riemsdyk and beating Andersen high to the short side from the left circle.
"He was fantastic for us out there," Oshie said of Snively. "He obviously hasn't been a part of some of the struggles that we've had lately, so he looks like he kind of came in with a fresh, young face and played great out there."
The Washington Capitals have won four of their last 10 games.
Prediction
Losing Ovechkin for the time being is going to hurt the Caps. Not sure if the Panthers have found the formula, but this is one way to get there. Panthers 4, Capitals 2
The Florida Panthers will be playing the Washington Capitals on Thursday, February 16 in Washington.
The Florida Panthers lost against the St. Louis Blues last Tuesday, February 14 at Enterprise Center in St. Louis with a score of 6-2. The Florida Panthers currently rank 4th in the Atlantic Division.
Carter Verhaeghe had a goal and an assist, Matthew Tkachuk had two assists, and Spencer Knight made 22 saves in his first game since Jan. 8 for the Panthers (27-24-6), who had won four of five following a 2-1 shootout victory at the Minnesota Wild on Monday.
"We were getting our looks," Verhaeghe said. "I think we were just giving them a ton of looks off the rush and weren't at our best tonight. It's a little frustrating, but [Binnington] played well too.
"We want to win every game, but we know it's not possible. We just want to keep building our game and trying to get better every night, and I think we're on the right track, but tonight wasn't our best."
St. Louis had a goal called back when Justin Faulk scored at 15:07, but Florida challenged for a high stick on a puck before the goal, and it was determined that Thomas played Knight's clear around the boards with a high stick at 14:50.
Eetu Luostarinen cut it to 3-1 at 18:44, finishing off a Tkachuk pass in front. Verhaeghe made it 5-2 at 13:28 on a wrist shot from the high slot high glove side.
"I don't want to look for an excuse for us to lose the game because we had some momentum, we had some good chances," Panthers defenseman Radko Gudas said. "We had good chances to come back; I believed in our group all the way until the end. I thought the first two periods we had Grade-A chances that I thought if we could have buried, the game could have gone differently."
The Florida Panthers have won five of their last 10 games.
The Washington Capitals lost against the Carolina Hurricanes last Tuesday, February 14 at Capitol One Arena in Washington with a score of 3-2. The Washington Capitals currently rank 5th in the Metropolitan Division.
Joe Snively scored his first goal of the season and had an assist for the Capitals (28-22-6), who have lost two in a row. Darcy Kuemper made 27 saves.
The Capitals played without forward Alex Ovechkin, who is expected to be away from the team for at least the remainder of the week to attend to a family matter.
Snively, who played his seventh game of the season, was called up from Hershey of the American Hockey League on Tuesday and replaced Aliaksei Protas, who was a late scratch.
"The plan was just to take warmups in case of emergency, and I got the [word I was playing] right before warmups," Snively said.
The Capitals appeared to tie it when Trevor van Riemsdyk knocked in a loose puck during at scramble in front at 9:39 of the third, but the goal was overturned after the Hurricanes challenged for goaltender interference. Video review determined T.J. Oshie impaired Andersen's ability to play his position.
Oshie said, "Disallowed goal, that's the way she goes. Wish I would've been able to get off him a little bit. I felt like there was no room behind me to really move once I got down there. It was just kind of unfortunate, but I thought the guys played hard tonight and you know, we had other chances to score for sure."
Brent Burns gave Carolina a 1-0 lead at 15:00 of the first period when he scored on a wrist shot through traffic from the point. Oshie tied it 1-1 at 19:02, driving to the net and converting a crossing pass from Snively on the rush. The Hurricanes went in front 2-1 at 2:33 of the second when Calvin de Haan's shot from the point deflected off Stastny in the left face-off circle. Snively tied it 2-2 at 6:23, taking a pass from van Riemsdyk and beating Andersen high to the short side from the left circle.
"He was fantastic for us out there," Oshie said of Snively. "He obviously hasn't been a part of some of the struggles that we've had lately, so he looks like he kind of came in with a fresh, young face and played great out there."
The Washington Capitals have won four of their last 10 games.
Prediction
Losing Ovechkin for the time being is going to hurt the Caps. Not sure if the Panthers have found the formula, but this is one way to get there. Panthers 4, Capitals 2
Betting trends
Panthers are 11-7 off a road loss this season.
Panthers are 8-10 after allowing 6 goals or more the last 3 seasons.
Capitals are 3-7 after 3 straight unders this season.
Projected lines
Panthers:
Anton Lundell -- Aleksander Barkov -- Sam Reinhart
Carter Verhaeghe -- Sam Bennett -- Matthew Tkachuk
Ryan Lomberg -- Eetu Luostarinen -- Nick Cousins
Grigori Denisenko -- Eric Staal -- Givani Smith
Gustav Forsling -- Aaron Ekblad
Marc Staal -- Brandon Montour
Josh Mahura -- Radko Gudas
Spencer Knight
Anton Lundell -- Aleksander Barkov -- Sam Reinhart
Carter Verhaeghe -- Sam Bennett -- Matthew Tkachuk
Ryan Lomberg -- Eetu Luostarinen -- Nick Cousins
Grigori Denisenko -- Eric Staal -- Givani Smith
Gustav Forsling -- Aaron Ekblad
Marc Staal -- Brandon Montour
Josh Mahura -- Radko Gudas
Spencer Knight
Capitals:
Aliaksei Protas -- Dylan Strome -- T.J. Oshie
Conor Sheary -- Evgeny Kuznetsov -- Anthony Mantha
Sonny Milano -- Nicklas Backstrom -- Marcus Johansson
Nicolas Aube-Kubel -- Lars Eller -- Garnet Hathaway
Erik Gustafsson -- Trevor van Riemsdyk
Dmitry Orlov -- Nick Jensen
Matt Irwin -- Martin Fehervary
Darcy Kuemper
Aliaksei Protas -- Dylan Strome -- T.J. Oshie
Conor Sheary -- Evgeny Kuznetsov -- Anthony Mantha
Sonny Milano -- Nicklas Backstrom -- Marcus Johansson
Nicolas Aube-Kubel -- Lars Eller -- Garnet Hathaway
Erik Gustafsson -- Trevor van Riemsdyk
Dmitry Orlov -- Nick Jensen
Matt Irwin -- Martin Fehervary
Darcy Kuemper
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Chuck Sommers
About the Author:
Chuck Sommers has camped outside of sportsbooks since he can remember, learning the tricks and nuances of the trade. He still has nightmares of betting $5,000 on the Raiders in the Tuck Rule game but has since turned that to 25 years of veteran handicapping greatness. You can find him mostly in the shadows at the Red Rock or Aliante casinos wondering if the over is cashing on any given Sunday.
