Washington eyes another offensive bonanza
After pulverizing the Penguins, will Washington be able to sustain its high-scoring ways against Detroit?
Barry Trotz’s crew hosts the Atlantic Division heavyweight this evening, with a 7 p.m. ET opening faceoff at Verizon Center. Online sports book Bovada.lv gives the Capitals odds of -210 to prevail. Conversely, Jeff Blashill’s troops represent +170 underdogs.
The Caps ended a recent power-play drought in dramatic fashion two nights ago. T.J. Oshie and Justin Williams scored with the man advantage to push the squad to a 7-1 thumping of Pittsburgh. As a result, Washington (10-4-2) moved into a second-place tie with the defending Stanley Cup champion in the Metropolitan Division.
By contrast, the Red Wings (8-8-1) labored through Tuesday’s 4-3 loss to the Lightning. To make matters worse, speedy forward Darren Helm exited in the third period with a shoulder injury. The third-line fixture could miss six-plus weeks of action.
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Motown continues to witness some pretty suspect work in net, too. Petr Mrazek has allowed four goals in each of his last four starting assignments. In other words, Alex Ovechkin and his friends can hardly wait to head to the rink.