Alex Ovechkin update: Player props, picks for Capitals LW in return to lineup vs. Ducks
Washington Capitals LW Alex Ovechkin makes his return to the lineup on Thursday night vs. the Anaheim Ducks at home. Ovechkin was away from the team following the death of his father. Now back, Ovechkin and the Capitals are looking to end a five-game losing streak against an Anaheim team at the bottom of the NHL standings. With Ovechkin in the lineup, we’ll be look at where he’s skating and what his player props look like on DraftKings Sportsbook.
NHL picks: Alex Ovechkin player props
Anytime goal: -120
First goal scorer: +700
Shots on goal: O4.5 (-135), U4.5 (+105)
Points: O1.5 (+145)
Power-play point: O0.5 (+100)
Assists: O0.5 (+105)
There’s a lot to like about Ovechkin’s player props tonight. It’s going to be an emotional game for everyone and the Capitals have a great matchup in a game they really need at home. Ovechkin is back skating on the top line with Evgeny Kuznetsov and Tom Wilson, who recently returned to the lineup. Ovechkin has replaced Wilson on the top power-play unit as well.
There isn’t a prop above that I don’t like. If I had to rank them it would go:
- Over Power-play point
- Over points
- Anytime goal
- Over assists
- Over SOG
- First goal scorer
In my mind, there’s no way Ovechkin doesn’t score tonight. It feels like a virtual lock. Maybe if the Capitals weren’t playing the Ducks and this game was against a tougher team. In this matchup, the Capitals have almost a fully healthy forward group. At least all the key players are in outside of D John Carlson. The Ducks have been hemorrhaging goals and allowing a ton of shots. Anaheim goalie John Gibson has seen at least 34 shots in eight straight games, some of those totals reaching above 50.
The SOG prop is high but is also juiced up. Like I pointed out, the Ducks allow a ton of shots and should take plenty of penalties, which means Ovechkin tee’ing up shots from the left dot all night. He hasn’t been as successful hitting this over this season. Again, the matchup sort of negates any trends we see in the game log.
