Arizona Coyotes vs Washington Capitals - Odds and Predictions

Where: Capital One Arena – Washington, D.C.

When: Monday, November 11, 7 PM EST

How (TV/Radio): Fox Sports ARI, NBC Sports WSH, NBC Sports | WFAN

Arizona Coyotes (Away)

Head Coach: Rick Tocchet{All-Time 130-151-48 ARI, TBL}

The Arizona Coyotes are amidst the best start to a season the franchise has ever had.

There is still plenty of work to be done with this team, but they currently sit at fifth in the highly competitive Pacific division with a record of 9-6-2.

Unfortunately for them, they are heading into a game against the league’s best already riding a three-game losing streak.

Offense

The Arizona Coyotes are going up against one of the best offensive teams in the league and it should be glaringly obvious.

The Coyotes are only 20th in the league when it comes to goals scored.

They rank 23rd in shots on net, giving them a shooting percentage of only 9.3 percent.

They also haven’t had much success on the power play as their 16.7 percent success rate ranks at only 20th in the league.

One plus for the Coyotes to keep in mind is that they have allowed the fewest even-strength goals against this season.

But they go against the team that has scored more even-strength goals than any other team this year.

Defense

The Coyotes won’t be without their struggles on the blue line Monday night.

Jason Demers has been listed as day-to-day and it is still uncertain if he’ll be on the ice against Washington. Even worse, Arizona lost d-man Niklas Hjalmarsson for up to three months this past weekend after he cracked his fibula.

Statistically though, Arizona has the edge over the Caps on paper when it comes to defense.

Arizona allows, on average, the second-lowest amount of goals against per game. They have allowed the second-fewest goals against in total.

They also have the third-lowest average when it comes to penalty minutes per game.

That doesn’t always translate to their penalty kill, however, as they Coyotes still rank towards the bottom of the league with only a 78.4 percent kill rate.

The team has also allowed the eighth-fewest shots against this season.

Goaltending

In net Monday night for the Coyotes is expected to be Darcy Kuemper.

Kuemper has a season record of 7-5-0 with an even 2.00 goals-against average and a .930 save percentage. He has also registered one shutout.

Head Coach: Todd Reirden{All-Time 61-28-11 WSH}

The Washington Capitals are putting together another championship-caliber run this season.

With a record of 13-2-3, the Capitals are 9-0-1 in their last ten games and ride a six-game winning streak heading into Monday night’s game.

Not only are they first in the Metropolitan Division, but the Caps are first-overall in the entire league.

Offense

What else can be said about the Washington Capitals that hasn’t already been said?

The team has the most even strength goals this season and the most goals in the league total with 63.

The Caps have taken the seventh-most shots on net and have put together a shooting percentage of 12.8 – another category they lead the league in.

Washington’s goals per game average sit at just above four.

Their power play is also ranked as the fifth-best in the league with a 25 percent success rate.

Both John Carlson and Alexander Ovechkin find themselves ranked within the top-ten in the league’s scoring race, both having already surpassed 20 points apiece.

Defense

Washington is lucky that the Coyotes struggle to capitalize on their power play chances because the Caps have a pretty high average of taking almost ten penalty minutes per game.

The high scoring team has also allowed a lot of goals against of their own – the eighth-most in the league to be exact.

They’ve allowed the eighth-most shots against as well.

The goaltending for the Washington Capitals has been rather lackluster as well.

It’s a good thing the offense on this team is as strong as it is.

There is something to be said about the fact that their leading scorer is a defenseman.

Are their priorities in the right place? If they keep winning, it won’t matter.

Goaltending

Starting goaltender Braden Holtby is once again expected to start in net for the Capitals.

Holtby has a season record of 8-1-3. He has a goals-against-average of 3.25 and a .898 save percentage. Despite the winning record, these are some of Holtby’s worst numbers to start a season.

These two teams haven’t faced each other since December of 2018. In that matchup, Washington got the better of the Arizona Coyotes, defeating them by a final score of 4-2.

What’s at Stake?

It’s a winning streak against a losing streak.

Morale for both teams is on the line. There is more for Arizona to gain however, win or lose.

Should they win, they have defeated the best team in the league while dealing with the injury.

Should they lose, they lost to the best team in the NHL.

Questions to Answer

Whose streak will see it’s end? Can Arizona find a way to snap a three-game losing streak against the best team in the NHL?

Or will Washington handle the Coyotes with ease and stretch their streak to seven games in a row?

Defensively the better team, how will the Arizona Coyotes adjust to not having Jason Demers and Niklas Hjalmarsson on the ice for them?

How much of an opening does their absence give the Capitals?

What will the final score be? What happens when the highest-scoring team in the league takes on the team that allows the fewest goals against?

D Niklas Hjalmarsson – DL (lower-leg)

F Marian Hossa – IR/NR (illness)

D Jason Demers – day-to-day (lower-body)

Washington Capitals Injury Report

F Richard Panik – DL (upper-body)

F Carl Hagelin – day-to-day (upper-body)

Arizona Coyotes vs Washington Capitals – Game Odds

The odds for this match between the Coyotes and the Capitals are provided by  bet365 NJ, DraftKings Sportsbook, and Caesars NJ.

Good luck!

Money Line