Capitals Look to Extend Point Streak Facing the Reeling Kraken

The Washington Capitals (11-2-5) have earned points in each of their last seven games with a 6-0-1 record over that stretch. The Capitals will look to keep things rolling when they visit the slumping Seattle Kraken (4-12-1) on Sunday night.

Sportsbook Odds Analysis

The Capitals opened as -141 road favorites and have been bet down slightly to Washington -135. The Kraken is going off as +115 underdogs on Sunday and the total is set at 5.5 goals. Seattle is 2-3-1 this season against Eastern Conference opponents.

Washington News & Notes

Alexander Ovechkin’s incredible start to the 2021-22 season continued on Saturday night as he and Conor Sheary both scored two goals apiece in Washington’s 4-0 win on the road against the San Jose Sharks. Ovechkin now has 14 goals and 15 assists through the Capitals’ first 18 games, putting him on pace for a whopping 64 goals this season. Even if the star winger doesn’t keep up this torrid pace, a 50+ goal season is clearly on the horizon barring any injury.

Washington has one of the best records in the NHL at 11-2-5 despite being without their star center Nicklas Backstrom. Ilya Samsonov recorded his second straight shutout on Saturday in the win after having blanked the Los Angeles Kings 2-0 on Wednesday. Vitak Vanecek is the projected starter on Sunday, but Peter Laviolette may opt to keep Samsonov in net due to his hot streak.

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Seattle News & Notes

Friday night’s game against the Colorado Avalanche went about how you’d expect a game between an expansion team and a top Stanley Cup contender to go. Colorado torched the Kraken 7-4 to hand the team its sixth straight loss. Seattle has given up at least four goals in each of its last six games and an average of 5.2 goals per game over that stretch. The Kraken rank dead last in the NHL in goals against average with a 3.88.

Seattle’s early struggles harken back to the expansion teams of the 1990’s. Hockey fans in Las Vegas were treated to one of the most improbable runs by an expansion team in sports history when the Golden Knights went 51-24-7 during the regular season and advance to the Stanley Cup Finals in their first season of existance in 2017-18. The Kraken’s woes are far more in line with what we have historically expected from expansion teams.