In the opening match of the NHL game day, a bright confrontation awaits us, Vancouver will go to visit Washington. The start of the game of these teams is scheduled for January 16 at 22:00 Moscow time. Our portal has prepared its forecast for this confrontation for you.
Washington Capitals
The lack of free money did not allow the team to properly strengthen the squad, and the former leaders are getting older every year and are not getting stronger, although this year Ovechkin and Kuznetsov started cheerfully, scoring a lot of goals. Now the team is suffering from injuries and illnesses of key players, therefore it issued a series of defeats, which ended only in the last match with a victory over the Islanders.
Vancouver Canucks
The Killer Whales started the championship extremely uncertainly, having won only a few victories. The reason for this is confusion within the team and problems with the atmosphere in the team. After the change of coach and managers, as well as the suspension of some players, the "killer whales" emotionally gave out a series of victories, showing meaningful attacking hockey, but in recent meetings they began to fail again, giving out a series of defeats, and the last offender of the "killer whales" was "Carolina".
Injuries and disqualifications:
- Injuries:
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Washington - Manta Ray (lower body injury), Orlov (illness), Hagelin (illness), Cholowski (illness).
Vancouver - Sutter (illness), Ferland (concussion), Keeper (lower body injury), Hamonic (injury), Mott (illness), Brisebois (illness), Dowling (illness).
Statistics and figures
- The last match between these teams ended with a victory for Vancouver with a score of 1:2.
- Washington has won just once in its last five meetings.
- Vancouver has a bad streak of three consecutive defeats on the road.
Forecast
It is difficult to single out a favorite in this confrontation, because both teams have experienced and well-played squads. Washington has been showing good hockey lately, but it often loses. The Capitals will have the advantage of the home court, but the guests will also be motivated only to win. I think we are waiting for an interesting game with the victory of the hosts.