MattyChucks' Boston Bruins @ Washington Capitals Picks - 10/12

Hockey is here! We have our first decent sized slate tonight and we have some intriguing matchups. One of these matchups are the Bruins vs. Capitals who have been on top of the Eastern Conference for as long as I remember.

The Capitals lost both of their goalies in the offseason, but jumped on the defending champ Darcy Keumper in free agency. The Avalanche chose to re-sign other key players and let their goalie walk in free agency, so the Capitals capitalized (no pun intended?). The Capitals still have Alexander Ovechkin and as long as he is still breathing, the Capitals will be good. The Capitals have some injuries to key players like Backstrom and Wilson who won’t be available, but T.J. Oshie is day to day and if he plays they should be fine.

The Bruins are basically a bunch of old guys skating around the rink with a young goalie. That sums up their team, but when healthy they are still one of the best teams in the league. Marchand, Pastrnak, Bergeron, and even Taylor Hall make this team very talented. The problem with the Bruins is that they are not healthy. Marchand is out until December, and on the defensive side of things, they are without McAvoy and Grzelcyk for a while.

This season I am expecting the Bruins to decline. The Capitals won’t be Stanley Cup favorites, but I expect them to be better than the Bruins. I like the Capitals in this game and I expect Ovechkin to light up the stat sheet. Ovechkin in his last 10 home openers is 7-3 to over 3.5 shots. I like him to hit this number and honestly to score as well at + money. I think with Backstrom, Ellers, and Wilson all out that he will step up tonight. The Bruins are not the best target shots on goal wise, but I think we see the studs shoot early as we saw in the 2 games last night as well. This game is on TNT and I know the NHL wants to see Ovechkin on the power play for the fans tonight. The Capitals on home ice with their fan base vs. the Bruins should be a great game and I think they pick up the victory.

I have 2 picks in tonight’s game and they are the Capitals ML at -140 on Draftkings and Ovechkin over 3.5 shots (-124) on Fanduel.