NHL Betting Free Picks: Dallas @ Washington
Added on Mar 08, 2010 by Jack Thurman in
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Sportsbooks are only offering two NHL betting opportunities for Monday, but we’ll take a position on the Dallas Stars/Washington Capitals game. Caps have the best record in the NHL and lead the East by 12 points over second place Pittsburgh. They’re 3 points ahead of Western Conference leading San Jose and 5 points ahead of the Chicago Blackhawks in the race for the President’s Trophy awarded to the team with the league’s best record. Dallas is tied for 11th place in the Western Conference and are 6 points out of the 8th and final sports betting playoff spot.
Dallas Stars at Washington Capitals
March 8, 4:05 PM Pacific
This game will be televised on the Versus TV network in the United States. No interest in laying -300 to play Washington, but we’re also not interested in going against a team with only 3 losses in regulation at home all year. The total is a much more attractive proposition. Washington is the best offensive team in the NHL, averaging 3.89 goals per game. The second place team in goals per game average is Chicago with 3.20 goals per game, so the Caps hold a very significant scoring margin over the Blackhawks. Dallas isn’t bad offensively, tied for 10th in goals scored per game with Anaheim at 2.75. Defensively, its a different story for both teams. Dallas is ranked #23 in scoring defense, allowing 3.05 goals per game. They’re one of only 8 teams in the NHL allowing more than 3 goals per game. The Capitals are decidedly mediocre on the defensive end of the ice, at least statistically. They’re the #15 ranked scoring defense team, allowing 2.75 goals per game.
Washington’s preferred strategy is to leverage their offensive superiority and outscore their opponents. Hockey purists can debate whether this strategy will take them far in the playoffs but for the regular season at least its worked. As a result, you have to begin your handicap of the Caps’ totals by looking at the Over. Unless an opponent has a strong defense with the ability to control tempo and limit Washington’s shots on goals, they’re going to outscore most teams on most nights. Dallas certainly doesn’t have the defense to contain Alex Ovechkin and company, so like it or not their best chance of winning is to play into the Caps’ strength and look to outscore them. Dallas has gone Over in 11 of 14 non-conference games. Both teams have gone Over in 4 of their last 6 games. Head to head, 9 of the L17 meetings overall and 7 of 9 in Washington have gone Over. With the Caps averaging nearly 4 goals per game and the Stars nearly 3 goals per game, even an average output sends this one Over the total.
Bet Washington/Dallas Over 6′ -120
