Three things you should know before betting on Capitals-Oilers:
1. When the Oilers and Capitals met earlier in the season, it was Edmonton that came away with a 5-3 victory on the road. The Capitals are easily the better team between these two franchises, but the Oilers are talented and are going to get up for this game. Edmonton is still very much in the playoff hunt and this is the type of game that this team is going to have to start winning if the group is going to end up in the postseason. Don't be surprised if the home crowd is really into this one, as there should be a playoff-like atmosphere with this game being on national television.
2. The Capitals are just 10-14 in the second half of the season thus far, and they now face an Oilers team that is 11-5 when coming off a game against a division opponent this season. On top of that, Edmonton is also 16-10 when coming off a game that went Under the total this year. Look for the Oilers to feed off the energy of this crowd and find some ways to put the puck in the back of the net early. Connor McDavid's speed should be a factor early on, as should Leon Draisaitl's size. Edmonton just needs to make sure it pays extra attention to Alexander Ovechkin in this game. The Oilers can be leaky defensively on a nightly basis, but perhaps the magnitude of this game will allow them to focus here.
3. These teams combined to score eight goals when they met earlier in the year. They have now combined to score a total of 15 goals over their last two games, and it's just hard to imagine them not playing another high-scoring game here. The Over is 10-2 when Washington is trying to avenge a loss to an opponent this season, and it's also a matchup between two teams that are inside the Top 12 in goals per game this year.
THE PICKS: Oilers ML AND Over 6.5
