I always like to pay attention to which teams are winning (or losing) last time in the major American sports leagues. With the NHL two weeks into its 2026-27 campaign, every club but one can already win. The only team yet to claim victory is the Los Angeles Kings. And we’ll keep it flowing tonight when Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals meet on the road. DraftKings Sportsbook lists the Caps as -155 money line favorites, and the Over/Under for goals scored is 5.5. Bet $5+ on any of tonight’s NHL games to get $200 in bonus bets at the DraftKings Sportsbook:
It’s 7 ET puck drop from Capital One Arena. Bettors through DraftKings agree with me in the first round, with 83% of the handle and 78% of bets on Washington -155. Heavy on Plus 5.5 as well.
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NHL Capitals Kings parlay the same game
- Washington money line
- Everything Below 7.5
BetRivers SGP price: -105 (subject to change)
If you’re wondering, and I was, the NHL record for longest winless streak is 15 in a row since the 1943-44 New York Rangers. They lost 11 straight, tied the game, then lost three more before beating the visiting Boston Bruins.
So the Kings (0-4-2) have a long way to go and have yet to tie the franchise record, as in 1984-85 the club was winless in its first nine. LA still made the plays that year. This year the club is still worth +100 for outside hockey with No only at -125. The season’s updated points total is 90.5 – remember, 84 regular season games now. The Royals’ preseason points total was 95.5, so the games aren’t booked yet, and they shouldn’t be. However, they are too capable and talented.
Goaltending problem No. 1, with the duo of Darcy Kuemper and Anton Forsberg combining for a 4.17 goals against average that is third-worst in the NHL and a .861 save percentage that is second-to-last. The penalty kill ranges from 31 to 61.9%. Maybe a trade for Winnipeg holdout Connor Hellebuyck?
But the offense should also help, scoring 2.00 goals per game (31st) and converting 14.3% of the time on the power play (26th). LA scored a total of eight goals in their first two games and has scored just one in their last four. That is difficult.
Injuries didn’t help with the likes of Kevin Fiala, Alex Turcotte and Mats Zuccarello all on injured reserve. Coach Peter Laviolette said Zuccarello is “trending” toward playing tonight, however, after Monday’s lineup of Quinton Byfield and Trevor Moore. No one has more than five points, and only three guys have a positive rating (all at plus-1).
“I don’t see it [the lapses] I see from the fourth-line of our players, from our top players,” All-star defense and team leader Drew Doughty said over the weekend. “That’s why we lose games. You need your top players to be the best players every night and not just have flashes of brilliance. He has to play 60 minutes.”
It should be noted that the Kings went 1-3-2 last season before a long road as the night begins, and they are still sneaking into the playoffs, although they were swept by Colorado. But I certainly don’t see any surefire wins in this five-game roadie. Kuemper will likely be there tonight, and in two starts on the road he has allowed 10 goals on 61 shots.
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“I think they’re going to have a level of desperation,” Caps winger Tom Wilson told the Kings.
Washington will be the most popular team in betting and this season will be tied with Ovechkin for last in the league. The 41-year-old is the all-time leading goal scorer and three assists in eight games, but a plus-3. The Rangers enter on a two-game home streak. They rallied for a 4-2 victory Saturday vs. New Jersey
Ovechkin skated in his 347th comeback win to tie Joe Thornton for the second-most in NHL history; the only player with more is Patrick Marleau (352). It also marked Ovechkin’s 467th win on home ice, passing Brendan Shanahan for the 11th-most in NHL history. He remains one assist shy of Nicklas Backstrom (762) for the all-time franchise lead.
Ovi already clearly leads in goals and points, so he almost became only the fourth player born outside of North America to lead his franchise in career goals, assists and points, after Florida’s Aleksander Barkov, New Jersey’s Patrik Elias and Ottawa’s Daniel Alfredsson.
Tonight, Ovechkin is +200 goals and 185 assists. In 30 career games against the Kings, he has 13 goals and 13 assists. Here you will note the last home game against them. Logan Thompson should be in net and he is 4-2-0 with a 2.69 GAA and .910 SV. Washington was drawing the 2025-26 season series.
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This is nowhere near as bad as Los Angeles, but I don’t know if tonight is the night – although I think the Kings will eventually score more than once. Do not please too many people. The Capitals have a perfect goal score of 3.7-2.7. Check out other financial experts read on SportsLine daily.