Welcome to a battle of the two nations’ capital cities, the Ottawa Senators and the Washington Capitals from D.C. This is NHL Predictions with us here at Last Word On Hockey. Find out our thoughts with analysis, statistics, and key storylines as we do our best to guess the outcome.

NHL Predictions, with Capitals and Senators

Season Series: Ottawa won their first two meetings, 7-1 in Washington and 4-3 in Ottawa.

Puck Drop: 7:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT)

How to Watch: SN, TVAS, MNMT

Location: The Capital One Arena in Washington, District of Columbia.

Taking a look at the standings, this really is the time of the year when any little slump can knock you out of contention. Washington is in sixth spot in the Eastern Conference Wild Card standings with 74 points and 14 games remaining. They do have a strong 20-11-4 record on home ice this season. Moreover, Ottawa is in fourth place in the Wild Card race. They have slightly more points with 77 and even two games in hand. They carry a solid 18-12-4 record on the road this season.

 

Credit Image: © Alex Cave/ZUMA Press Wire

Ottawa’s Situation

Ottawa comes into this one pretty hot at 11-2-2. However, they have needed to play that way if they wanted any sniff of a Stanley Cup Playoff opportunity. This is another pivotal win with many of the teams in the race playing very competitively.

Nick Jensen will have surgery on his meniscus and will be out atleast 6 weeks. #Sens

— Alex Adams (@alexadamsBTP_) March 17, 2026

For injury notes for Ottawa, yesterday it was announced that Nick Jensen will miss up to six weeks. They will need to continue to fill the void, in a by committee approach.

Also, in more positive news, it does seem that Jake Sanderson will start skating soon. The sooner he is back, the better for the Sens.

Travis Green says that Jake Sanderson will be skating in the next couple of days.

— Alex Adams (@alexadamsBTP_) March 17, 2026

To pick up the slack defensively, Jordan Spence has seen an increase in deployment. However, it is definitely the Thomas Chabot show in the meantime. He has been up over 27 minutes in each of the past three games. Don’t look for that to change, at least until Sanderson returns.

The Storylines from Washington

For Washington, they have been playing mediocre in 2026. This is a natural cut-off, and they also began 2026 with a loss to these very Sens. At 12-12-3 since the calendar flipped, they have not been impressing. Combined with the fact other teams, like the Sens, have asserted themselves, it does not bode well for a potential playoff appearance.

Of course, it’s difficult to talk about Washington without mentioning the Great 8, Alex Ovechkin. Every time he hits the ice, he has the potential at re-writing history, as the all-time leading goal getter. Currently, he sits at 921. Furthermore, his durability and consistency throughout his career has been nothing short of legendary. In each of his seasons, he has scored between 1.1 and 2.3 goals-per-60-minutes, across all situations. Amazingly, last season he was at 2.3 g/60, the best rate of his career. He has taken a step back this year, at 1.2. We all know, father time remains undefeated.

On the other side of the ledger, someone with a very promising career ahead of them. Prospect defenceman Cole Hutson inked his entry-level contract recently. Head coach Spencer Carbery hasn’t tipped his hand as to when he will find his way into the lineup, but his NHL debut could very well be tonight. So, stay tuned.

The Goalies

The Sens are on the first half of a back-to-back, but we do expect they side with their number one. So, look for Linus Ullmark to get the call. Meanwhile, we think Logan Thompson gets the call for the Capitals. This matchup is full of star power, and we do expect a low scoring affair, as a result. Thompson has a .912 save percentage on the season. For Ullmark, he has played better since returning from a leave of absence. In those 10 games, he has a close to league average save percentage of .897. The way the Sens can mitigate offence against, this is a number that works.

However, it is a great time for our disclaimer. Please check social media prior to puck drop, to see definitely who gets the nod, before setting your fantasy roster for the day.

NHL Predictions

Ottawa is the hotter club, and trending towards the playoffs. We think they take this one, despite playing in the US capital.

Prediction: Capitals 2 – Senators 3 (in regulation).

Prop Bets

For the Capitals, we like Ryan Leonard as their anytime goal scorer. He has goals in three of his last four games. For Ottawa, we like a guy who is flirting with career highs. At 27 goals, he is just one off his career high in goals. Also, his 59 points is in striking distance of the career high of 68 points. Moreover, in his last eight games, he scored two goals four times. So, we like Drake Batherson as the Sens anytime goal scorer tonight.

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Main Photo Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports