Free Picks: Washington Capitals vs. Philadelphia Flyers

The Flyers haven’t played their best hockey as of late, but still find themselves near the top of the standings. As for Washington, the usual red hot Capitals have fallen as of late and have allowed a ton of goals. With issues relating to COVID-19 and key players missing time, the Capitals are trying to save their season before the losing gets out of hand.

Hit hard by COVID, the Capitals did all they could to stay afloat in the standings. With key players out, the Capitals turned heads by winning three straight games. Unfortunately, their progress was quickly nullified as the Capitals are riding a three-game losing skid.

The Capitals will look to turn things around against the Philadelphia Flyers. The Flyers roll into town having won their last game, which was a 7-4 victory against the same Capitals.

On Sunday, the Capitals dropped a 7-4 loss to Philadelphia. In recent games, Washington’s goaltending has been sketchy.

The Capitals have allowed 3 goals or more since the 28th of January, which is a stretch of 5 games. It’s too early to tell who will get the start for Washington in Tuesday’s contest, but all signs point to Vitek Vanecek getting the nod.

Vanecek is 5-2-2 on the season but has a 3.17 goals-against average.  Vanecek has faced a heavy workload due to Ilya Samsonov being on the COVID-19 reserve list. It appears as if this heavy workload has caught up to the 25-year-old.

Philly has already announced that Brian Elliott will get the start. Despite being the backup to Carter Hart, Elliott is 3-1-0 on the season with a 2.19 GAA and 1 shutout.

The Flyers are buzzing as of late and dominate NHL regular season odds. It shouldn’t be a surprise that I like the Flyers for my free picks, but I am more interested in total goals for this contest.

The Flyers’ offense exploded against Washington on Saturday. I don’t think Philly will notch 7 goals once again, but I also don’t think they will be held off the scoresheet.

Many are saying that the Flyers haven’t played their best hockey as of late, which is true. The same could be said for Washington. Granted, the Capitals’ current situation is different.

Not that Washington has any other choice, but they are running Vanecek into the ground. The netminder has faced a ton of action and the team has shown no signs of improvement in this stretch.

Expect to see goals in Tuesday’s contest. I love picking the over on BetPicks, but this is a game that just makes sense.

• The Flyers rank last in shots per game.
• Philadelphia has had 9 of last 13 games reach the OVER.
• Washington are 0-5 ATS in last 5 games against Philadelphia
• The total has gone OVER  in 4 of last 5 games for the Capitals.