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Posted at 3:00 PM EST. 

7:05 PM EST. OT included. The Caps have cashed tickets in five straight home games so this might seem like a short price to back one of the league’s premier franchises, but these are not the Caps of old. Washington has been in poor form almost all season thus, the Caps are will remain high on our fade list. Washington is 25th in puck possession, and it gets worse when you look at its Fenwick For% of just 46.5, good for 29th in the NHL. For many years the Caps were a solid investment at home, where they seldom lost, but they are no longer the sound investment they were as years past. They are now a vulnerable team every time they take the ice because their defense is so much weaker and they don’t have the balanced scoring anymore either.

Winners in six of their last eight games, the Flames are hitting their stride thanks in large part to their power play finally catching fire. We’ve discussed in the past that while power-play goals are a luck based statistic, they do often make the difference between winning and losing in these tight games. Power-play success is all about getting the bounces and Calgary has cashed in on seven on its last 19 chances with the man advantage. However, as the Flames PP is heating up, they still sport the league’s worst penalty killing unit, but PPs and PKs tend to even out over time so a correction to the good is coming in that department. It’s no coincidence that the Flames came to life when their PP starting clicking, as they have averaged four goals per game over their last eight.  Calgary was dead last on offense in October when the bounces were not going its way, but the tides have turned. The Flames bounced back nicely with a 5-4 overtime win in Philadelphia on Saturday after getting pounded 8-2 in Detroit three nights earlier. With its downtime between games, Calgary stayed lose by taking part in a 50s style train ride on the team’s trip to Washington for tonight’s game. While it’s hard to track team chemistry and its effect on the game, it can’t hurt that these guys are bonding and having fun on this Eastern roadie. Mindset plays a significant role in the outcome of these games, and the Flames are looking good, feeling good and playing well.  If you’re looking for some X’s and O’s, Flames’ star Johnny Gaudreau is on a nine game points streak, and you’ll be shocked to find out when Johnny Hockey is lighting the lamp, Calgary win, as its 8-1 record will attest to when Gaudreau has multipoint nights. A deeper look shows the Flames are a top-10 puck possession team (8th) with a Corsi For% of 51.4 just ahead of the Lightning, who are currently the odds on favorite to win the cup at 6-1. The Flames are close to being an elite team but they’re not priced like it and absolutely have at least a 50% chance of winning here and maybe more.

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