The slumping Washington Capitals, losers of three straight games, welcome the red-hot Carolina Hurricanes who have won five of their last six contests.
The Canes have taken on a “road warrior” mentality under their head coach, Rod Brind ‘Amour and will look to carry that into the nation's capital to take advantage of a Caps team struggling to find its mojo.
With the Capitals' offense slacking – and the Hurricanes having the advantage in net – our NHL picks and predictions are leading on the road favorites but keep reading to find out our best play.
Hurricanes vs Capitals odds
This odds widget represents the best odds available for each betting market from regulated sportsbooks.
The Carolina Hurricanes opened up as -140 road favorites early on Wednesday morning, but the line has since moved in favor of the Capitals as they went from +114 to +110, while the Hurricanes moved from -140 to -130. The total opened up at 5.5 but now stands at 6.
Use the live odds widget above to track any future line movements right until puck drop and be sure to check out the full NHL odds before betting to ensure you get the best number.
Hurricanes vs Capitals predictions
Predictions made on 3/3/2022 at 9:00 a.m. ET.
Click on each prediction to jump to the full analysis.
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Hurricanes vs Capitals game info
• Location: Capital One Arena, Washington, DC
• Date: Thursday, March 3, 2022
• Puck drop: 7:00 p.m. ET
• TV: ESPN+/Hulu
Hurricanes vs Capitals betting preview
Key injuries
Hurricanes: Brendan Smith D (Out), Tony DeAngelo D (Out).
Capitals: Carl Hagelin F (Out), Joe Snively F (Out) Anthony Mantha F (Questionable), Ilya Samsonov G (Questionable), Just Schultz D (Questionable).
Find our latest NHL injury reports.
Hurricanes vs Capitals head-to-head record
Hurricanes: 2-3-0 SU, 14 goals for..
Capitals: 3-1-1 SU, 16 goals for..
Betting trend to know
Washington is 0-6 in its last six home games. Find more NHL betting trends for Hurricanes vs. Capitals.
Hurricanes vs Capitals picks and predictions
Our side and total predictions are based upon our analysis of the line and total in this game. Our best bet is our favorite pick across all markets.
Moneyline analysis
The Carolina Hurricanes have consistently been one of the best teams in the league all season long. They are one of the few teams that rank in the Top 10 both offensively and defensively.
In the offensive end, the Canes rank as the sixth-best offense, averaging 3.47 goals scored per game. The power play has been a big contributor to that offensive successive, ranking inside the Top 5 (25.5%).
They also have the league's best penalty kill, killing off 89.9% of its penalties and on top of that, have the league's best penalty kill. They've played an incredible 200-foot game under Rod Brind ‘Amour's system.
On the flipside, the Washington Capitals might not be in the Top 10 offensively, but their weapons upfront have carried them this season.
Alexander Ovechkin continues to defy humanity as he is having an incredible season with 32 goals and 32 assists in 53 games at the age of 36. The Caps' offense is scoring 3.16 goals per game, good for 13th in the league.
Despite their offense being in the top half of the league, the power play that we have seen dominate over the past decade has struggled mightily this season, ranking 27th and converting only 16.4% of the time. Tonight won’t make things any easier for the Caps' power-play unit as they will be going up against one of the most aggressive penalty-killing units in the league.
When you take away special teams, the Canes and Caps are pretty evenly matched at 5-on-5 play. Carolina is averaging 3.15 goals per game at 5-on-5 while the Caps are typically scoring 2.66.
The Canes have the advantage defensively in this category as well, allowing 2.16 goals against, as opposed to the Caps who allow 2.19. If the Capitals can find their offense that seems to have gone missing of late, even-strength play should be relatively even.
Carolina does have the edge in goal, as Freddie Anderson is having the best season of his career and is giving Igor Shesterkin a run for his money for this year's Vezina trophy. However, since the Hurricanes are playing the first game of a back-to-back, there is a chance that Anti Raanta will get the start tonight.
Ranta, while not on the same level as Anderson, is more than capable of winning a tough game on the road and should lead the Canes to a W if called upon tonight.
Prediction: Hurricanes ML (-130)
Over/Under analysis
As good as the Carolina Hurricanes are offensively, they are somehow even better in their own end. It all starts with the play of Freddie Anderson. Anderson is 29-7-2 with a .930 save percentage and he has the second-best goals above expected rating which is currently at +30.0, he has been Carolina’s most important player all season.
If they decide to start Raanta instead, things might be a little different. Raanta is 7-3-2 with a .908 save percentage and a +4.3 GSAx.
The Canes do a fantastic job at limiting their opponents' scoring chances. They only allow 29 shots against per game and 11.8 high-danger chances. As a team, the Canes only allow 2.38 goals per game, which is the least amount against in the NHL.
It may come as a surprise, but the Caps who are usually known to be an offensive juggernaut with guys like Alexander Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom, are somehow a better defensive team this year than they are offensively.
The Caps have two competent goaltenders that have split a majority of the time in net this year. The likely starter for this one is Ilya Samsonov who is 17-9-3 this season, but he did get yanked in their last game against Toronto on Monday night after he allowed three goals on 10 shots.
This season, Samsonov has a .901 save percentage and a -6.7 GSAx. If the Caps decide to start Vitek Vanecek, who does have the better numbers, but fewer games played, they may have a better chance with him. Vanecek is 10-7-5 with a .915 save percentage and a -0.2 GSAx.
No matter who gets the start in net for Washington, the defense will do a strong job in front of their goaltender. The Caps allow the second-fewest shots against (28.8) and are only expected to give up 2.68 goals per 60 minutes.
Both teams are very strong defensively and their goaltenders can stand on their heads at any moment. This will be a very tight division battle that should stay Under the total.
Prediction: Under 6 (-110)
Best bet
With the way that both teams have been trending as of late, it is perfectly clear that the Carolina Hurricanes are the better hockey team offensively, defensively, and even on special teams.
The biggest question about this game is who the Hurricanes will go with in goal. If Brind ‘Amour decides to start Anderson, I love Carolina’s odds that much more, but even if Raanta gets the nod, I am confident that they can prevent the Capitals from scoring more than two goals.
The Caps have only scored five goals in their last three games and for whatever reason, they have just looked pretty flat. They aren’t usually a team that struggles on ice, but they haven’t been able to grind out a win at home since January 22 when they beat the Senators in overtime 3-2.
For a struggling offense, Carolina is probably the last team you’d want to play against. Back the Canes to control the game and get the two points in regulation.
Pick: Hurricanes 3-way ML (+115)
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