by Chuck Sommers
Tuesday, Feb 28, 2023
Time: 10 p.m. ET
Venue: Honda Center, Anaheim, CA
Where to watch: BSSC, NBCSWA
Opening Odds at USA Sportsbooks
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FanDuel: Check back later for odds
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Caesars: Check back later for odds
Season record
Capitals: 29-27-6
Ducks: 20-34-7
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!
Capitals - Ducks preview, prediction and analysis
The Washington Capitals will be playing the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday, March 1 in Anaheim, California.
The Washington Capitals lost against the Buffalo Sabres last Sunday, February 26 at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York with a score of 7-4. The Washington Capitals currently rank 6th in the Metropolitan Division.
Alex Ovechkin scored his first goal since rejoining the Capitals after the death of his father, Mikhail, and Dylan Strome and T.J. Oshie each had a goal and an assist for Washington (29-27-6), which has lost seven of eight.
Darcy Kuemper allowed five goals on 19 shots before being replaced by Charlie Lindgren in the second period. Lindgren made 16 saves.
"It's just not good enough," Oshie said. "The consistency of attention to detail for us right now has to be at an all-time high. Yesterday (a 6-3 win against the New York Rangers) it was it was there for us. Today it wasn't, so you're not going to last much longer being inconsistent like this."
Dylan Cozens gave the Sabres a 1-0 lead at 10:40 of the first after Mittelstadt found him streaking into the slot. Strome tied it 1-1 from the left hash marks at 14:45.
Tage Thompson put the Sabres back in front 2-1 at 16:35 after intercepting Evgeny Kuznetsov's pass above the circles. Oshie scored 15 seconds later from below the left circle to tie it a 2-2 game at 16:50.
Jeff Skinner responded for the Sabres to make it 3-2 at 5:49 of the second when he poked in a rebound. Zemgus Girgensons then pushed it to 4-2 at 8:36 after he was left alone in front.
Vinnie Hinostroza, who was recalled from Rochester of the American Hockey League prior to the game, scored from the right circle to extend the lead to 5-2 at 10:07.
"It's tough because it's kind of been the story for the last month or so where after a good stretch of hockey we're playing, we just can't kind of seem to find it," Capitals defenseman Nick Jensen said. "Pucks just keep finding their way into the back of our net, guys are getting discouraged and confidence is starting to shrink more and more as that happens."
Cozens made it 6-2 at 12:49, taking a cross-ice pass from Quinn and shooting blocker side on Lindgren.
Ovechkin scored on a rebound in front to cut it to 6-3 at 15:49, and Sonny Milano made it 6-4 with a breakaway on a power play at 18:40.
Cozens completed the hat trick at 11:52 of the third for the 7-4 final.
The Washington Capitals have won three of their last 10 games.
The Anaheim Ducks won against the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday, February 27 at Honda Center in Anaheim, California with a score of 4-2. The Anaheim Ducks currently rank 8th in the Pacific Division.
Troy Terry had a goal and an assist for the Anaheim Ducks. Terry has scored in three straight games since returning from an upper-body injury that caused him to miss seven games.
"I didn't have a whole lot of puck luck for a while," Terry said. "The last couple games I've been getting the bounces."
Max Jones had a goal and an assist, Mason McTavish had three assists, and Frank Vatrano had two assists for the Ducks (20-34-7), who have won three in a row. Lukas Dostal made 24 saves.
Tyler Johnson gave Chicago a 1-0 lead at 5:35 of the first period, scoring top shelf over Dostal's blocker from the left circle off a cross-ice pass from Max Domi.
Isac Lundestrom tied it 1-1 at 13:18, taking a cross-ice pass from Terry and scoring off the far post from the left circle. Jakob Silfverberg put the Ducks in front 2-1 at 19:14 when he redirected a pass from John Klingberg in the slot on a power play.
"Not the start we wanted, took way too many penalties and, obviously, they got one on the power play, so kind of got caught on our back foot," Silfverberg said. "But big goal by [Lundestrom], big shot, so it kind of got us going. And then, obviously, we got a few power plays."
Andreas Athanasiou tied it 2-2 at 13:11 of the second period with a one-timer from the right circle off a pass from Domi for another power-play goal. Dostal made a save on Domi on a breakaway with 2:04 left in the second, and Jones then scored off a pass from McTavish with 18 seconds remaining to give the Ducks a 3-2 lead.
"Frank [Vatrano] and [McTavish] made a strong play on the wall there, and an easy pass for [McTavish]," Jones said. "He makes those plays look real easy, and (I) just had to put it in the net."
Terry pushed it to 4-2 at 8:15 of the third period. He drove to the net, waited out Mrazek and scored when his backhand from along the goal line hit off the crossbar before deflecting in off Domi.
"He's been great for us all year. He's definitely a leader," McTavish said of Terry. "He's just getting better and better every game. He's got such a great shot. I'm not surprised he's scoring now."
The Anaheim Ducks have won four of their last 10 games.
Prediction
The Capitals are trying to fight for a playoff spot and can't be giving games like this away. It didn't help they gave up seven to Buffalo but they should rebound against a lowly Ducks team, followed by Saturday in San Jose. Capitals 4, Ducks 2
The Washington Capitals lost against the Buffalo Sabres last Sunday, February 26 at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York with a score of 7-4. The Washington Capitals currently rank 6th in the Metropolitan Division.
Alex Ovechkin scored his first goal since rejoining the Capitals after the death of his father, Mikhail, and Dylan Strome and T.J. Oshie each had a goal and an assist for Washington (29-27-6), which has lost seven of eight.
Darcy Kuemper allowed five goals on 19 shots before being replaced by Charlie Lindgren in the second period. Lindgren made 16 saves.
"It's just not good enough," Oshie said. "The consistency of attention to detail for us right now has to be at an all-time high. Yesterday (a 6-3 win against the New York Rangers) it was it was there for us. Today it wasn't, so you're not going to last much longer being inconsistent like this."
Dylan Cozens gave the Sabres a 1-0 lead at 10:40 of the first after Mittelstadt found him streaking into the slot. Strome tied it 1-1 from the left hash marks at 14:45.
Tage Thompson put the Sabres back in front 2-1 at 16:35 after intercepting Evgeny Kuznetsov's pass above the circles. Oshie scored 15 seconds later from below the left circle to tie it a 2-2 game at 16:50.
Jeff Skinner responded for the Sabres to make it 3-2 at 5:49 of the second when he poked in a rebound. Zemgus Girgensons then pushed it to 4-2 at 8:36 after he was left alone in front.
Vinnie Hinostroza, who was recalled from Rochester of the American Hockey League prior to the game, scored from the right circle to extend the lead to 5-2 at 10:07.
"It's tough because it's kind of been the story for the last month or so where after a good stretch of hockey we're playing, we just can't kind of seem to find it," Capitals defenseman Nick Jensen said. "Pucks just keep finding their way into the back of our net, guys are getting discouraged and confidence is starting to shrink more and more as that happens."
Cozens made it 6-2 at 12:49, taking a cross-ice pass from Quinn and shooting blocker side on Lindgren.
Ovechkin scored on a rebound in front to cut it to 6-3 at 15:49, and Sonny Milano made it 6-4 with a breakaway on a power play at 18:40.
Cozens completed the hat trick at 11:52 of the third for the 7-4 final.
The Washington Capitals have won three of their last 10 games.
The Anaheim Ducks won against the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday, February 27 at Honda Center in Anaheim, California with a score of 4-2. The Anaheim Ducks currently rank 8th in the Pacific Division.
Troy Terry had a goal and an assist for the Anaheim Ducks. Terry has scored in three straight games since returning from an upper-body injury that caused him to miss seven games.
"I didn't have a whole lot of puck luck for a while," Terry said. "The last couple games I've been getting the bounces."
Max Jones had a goal and an assist, Mason McTavish had three assists, and Frank Vatrano had two assists for the Ducks (20-34-7), who have won three in a row. Lukas Dostal made 24 saves.
Tyler Johnson gave Chicago a 1-0 lead at 5:35 of the first period, scoring top shelf over Dostal's blocker from the left circle off a cross-ice pass from Max Domi.
Isac Lundestrom tied it 1-1 at 13:18, taking a cross-ice pass from Terry and scoring off the far post from the left circle. Jakob Silfverberg put the Ducks in front 2-1 at 19:14 when he redirected a pass from John Klingberg in the slot on a power play.
"Not the start we wanted, took way too many penalties and, obviously, they got one on the power play, so kind of got caught on our back foot," Silfverberg said. "But big goal by [Lundestrom], big shot, so it kind of got us going. And then, obviously, we got a few power plays."
Andreas Athanasiou tied it 2-2 at 13:11 of the second period with a one-timer from the right circle off a pass from Domi for another power-play goal. Dostal made a save on Domi on a breakaway with 2:04 left in the second, and Jones then scored off a pass from McTavish with 18 seconds remaining to give the Ducks a 3-2 lead.
"Frank [Vatrano] and [McTavish] made a strong play on the wall there, and an easy pass for [McTavish]," Jones said. "He makes those plays look real easy, and (I) just had to put it in the net."
Terry pushed it to 4-2 at 8:15 of the third period. He drove to the net, waited out Mrazek and scored when his backhand from along the goal line hit off the crossbar before deflecting in off Domi.
"He's been great for us all year. He's definitely a leader," McTavish said of Terry. "He's just getting better and better every game. He's got such a great shot. I'm not surprised he's scoring now."
The Anaheim Ducks have won four of their last 10 games.
Prediction
The Capitals are trying to fight for a playoff spot and can't be giving games like this away. It didn't help they gave up seven to Buffalo but they should rebound against a lowly Ducks team, followed by Saturday in San Jose. Capitals 4, Ducks 2
Betting trends
Check back later for trends.
Projected lines
Capitals:
Alex Ovechkin -- Evgeny Kuznetsov -- Tom Wilson
Sonny Milano -- Dylan Strome -- T.J. Oshie
Craig Smith -- Nicklas Backstrom -- Conor Sheary
Lars Eller -- Nic Dowd -- Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Martin Fehervary -- Nick Jensen
Erik Gustafsson -- Trevor van Riemsdyk
Matt Irwin -- Dylan McIlrath
Charlie Lindgren
Alex Ovechkin -- Evgeny Kuznetsov -- Tom Wilson
Sonny Milano -- Dylan Strome -- T.J. Oshie
Craig Smith -- Nicklas Backstrom -- Conor Sheary
Lars Eller -- Nic Dowd -- Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Martin Fehervary -- Nick Jensen
Erik Gustafsson -- Trevor van Riemsdyk
Matt Irwin -- Dylan McIlrath
Charlie Lindgren
Ducks:
Trevor Zegras -- Ryan Strome -- Troy Terry
Max Jones -- Mason McTavish -- Jakob Silfverberg
Frank Vatrano -- Isac Lundestrom -- Brett Leason
Max Comtois -- Derek Grant -- Sam Carrick
Cam Fowler -- Dmitry Kulikov
Colton White -- Nathan Beaulieu
Simon Benoit -- Kevin Shattenkirk
John Gibson
Trevor Zegras -- Ryan Strome -- Troy Terry
Max Jones -- Mason McTavish -- Jakob Silfverberg
Frank Vatrano -- Isac Lundestrom -- Brett Leason
Max Comtois -- Derek Grant -- Sam Carrick
Cam Fowler -- Dmitry Kulikov
Colton White -- Nathan Beaulieu
Simon Benoit -- Kevin Shattenkirk
John Gibson
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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.
