Good evening and welcome, folks! In today’s edition of The Dog Pound, we will talk a look at the best betting tools in the game (of course), Pine’s AI model. Today we are taking a different twist, however, and will look at the player props and game predictions on our underdogs before the game!

I’m excited, and I hope you are, too, since tonight we will predict the odds of our underdogs, the Washington Capitals, on their major game against the Boston Bruins.

Honestly, after Tuesday night’s performance for the Bruins, the odds are looking good for our underdogs. After winning eight of their last nine games and a five-game winning streak, the Bruins had a hard loss on Tuesday. Deficient of some critical players Mike Reilly (health protocols), Trent Frederic (upper-body injury), John Moore (upper-body injury), and Nick Foligno (lower-body injury), others had to step it up. Players like Ty Lewington and Urho Vaakanainen had to match the missing players’ game, yet those spots were hard to fill.  

While Frederic, Foligno, and Moore are out day-to-day, the lack of influential players will significantly help the Capitols. So, my words to Frederic, Foligno, and Moore feel better next game and sit this one out.

Regarding our underdog’s absentees, top defensemen Dmitry Orlov is still facing the wrath of the NHL’s Department of Player Safety after previously injuring Jets player Nikolaj Ehlers. Furthermore, John Carlson is out from COVID-19, and T.J. Oshie is out, considered on a day-to-day basis. I hope that Alex Ovechkin, Niklas Backstrom, and Evgeny Kuznetsov make up for the injured.

Ovechkin is the Capitals team leader in points; he has a whopping total of 55 points right now. With an average of 0.49 goals per game thus far, however, and a projection of 0.49, my money is on at least one goal tonight considering all of the Bruins absentees (keeping in mind our bot doesn’t consider absentees). The prop line is at 0.5; I would bet the over on him tonight.

For shots on goal, the prop line is at 4.5. Our robot likes the under, with a projected win rate of 55.4%. Honestly, I’m loving the over, considering a 4.5 prop line is insanely underwhelming. I’d bet the over on this line as well, considering the Bruins injuries. Ovechkin can shoot from anywhere, and in his game against Detroit and Vancouver, he had 7.0 shots on goal. I think it’ll be a similar kind of game tonight.

For Kuznetsov, the predictions are a bit more obvious. Our goal projection is 0.25, and the prop line is at 0.5. Our robot favors the under with an overwhelming projected win rate of 77.83%. I’m going to have to favor the under here as well, especially considering Kuznetsov is on a four-game no-goal streak.

Even though I will always hope for a win for our underdogs, I think it will be a close game, ultimately ending with the Bruins taking the win. Nonetheless, it will be a great game to watch, and I am incredibly excited to see it!

Thanks for attending today’s edition of The Dog Pound. Let us know how you feel about the new pre-game article, and even share what you’re betting below. See you next time!