The young NHL season enters its second week with an eight-game slate set for Tuesday night. There are plenty of intriguing matchups, but an Eastern Conference clash between a couple of 2024 playoff teams opens the day at 7 p.m. EST. The Tampa Bay Lightning (1-2-0) duel the Washington Capitals (2-1-0) as these two talented teams meet in the nation’s capital. We’ve got Alex Ovechkin vs. Nikita Kucherov and a duel between Logan Thompson and Andrei Vasilevskiy… this looks like a fun one.
Here’s a Capitals vs. Lightning prediction and pick on DraftKings Sportsbook for Tuesday’s game.
Capitals vs. Lightning prediction, preview
Both of these teams bring playoff-caliber rosters to the matchup, so it shapes up as a competitive affair. On one side, the Capitals are 2-1-0 with an opening-night loss to the Bruins but two wins over the Islanders and Rangers afterward. Second-line forward Aliaksei Protas leads Washington with four points on a pair of goals and assists, as well as a team-high 10 shots. Alex Ovechkin is yet to net a goal but has contributed two assists, but the first line has yet to truly get going through three games — Dylan Strome doesn’t have a point yet, and Anthony Beauvillier has just one. As for defensemen, Jakob Chychrun has three assists and has moved the puck quite well, and the blue line has only allowed three goals in three games. Logan Thompson is holding it down in net with a .930 SV% and 2.03 GAA as well.
The Lightning, meanwhile, may need a moment to find their form. Tampa Bay just won its first game last night against the Bruins, a much-needed victory after dropping the first two contests to the Senators and Devils. The good news for this team is that the offense has largely picked up where it left off last season with 11 goals across three games. Six skaters have three points or more, headlined by Brayden Point (1G/3A) and Jake Guentzel (4A). Nikita Kucherov has two goals to his name and will surely ramp up his scoring rate as well, so the offense isn’t going to be the problem here. However, the defense may raise concerns. The first-line forward pairing of Kucherov and Point are -7 and -5 through three games and the blue liners haven’t played well thus far. The Lightning have allowed 13 goals thus far, over four per game, and many of those came with Vasilevskiy in net. He’s stopped just 55 of 64 total shots, good for a .859 SV% and 4.67 GAA.
Capitals vs. Lightning pick, best bet
DraftKings Sportsbook lists these teams with a very slim margin on the Moneyline. The Capitals are -112 ML favorites at home, but the Lightning come in at -108. The total sits at 5.5 combined goals.
Both teams are underperforming to start the campaign, but there is rust to knock off following a long offseason. The slow start on both sides is explainable for the most part, but the biggest concern here seems to be Vasilevskiy’s play. The 31-year-old is still in his prime, but he’s been a step too slow through his first two appearances of the season and the poor performance does look quite scary after he posted the best GAA of his career last year with his third-best SV%. The sample size is tiny, but early results aren’t encouraging and Lightning fans are left hoping and praying the former Vezina winner isn’t beginning to show signs of regression.
In either circumstance, there’s still room for upside as Tampa Bay continues to get back into the swing of things. Brandon Hagel has just one point to start the year, and if he can get going, the Lightning have a much better shot to beat the Capitals tonight. Thankfully, the Washington offense hasn’t truly been pressuring opposing blue lines with just six goals in three games and 86 total shots, good for 14th in the league. The Capitals have shot just 7.0% on those attempts, and they’re yet to connect on a power-play goal as well. If there’s a spot in which Tampa Bay can rebound, tonight’s the night. The visitors just have to get more active with their shot attempts as the unit ranks fourth-to-last in the category. This could be a close one because of that, but if the Lightning put more pressure on Thompson, he may crack.
