Two teams looking to improve their playoff seeding in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs will face off on Sunday afternoon when the Winnipeg Jets travel to Washington, D.C., to face the Washington Capitals at the Capital One Arena. The puck drop is scheduled for 12:30 PM ET and will air on the Monumental Sports Network and the NHL Network.

The Winnipeg Jets had a chance to keep pace with the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars with a win against the New York Islanders on Saturday. However, they would lose the game 3-6 on the road to drop to third in the Central Division and extend their losing streak to two games. Both losses came by multiple goals after a 1-4 loss on the road against the New Jersey Devils and Saturday against the Islanders. 

Winnipeg has compiled a record of 7-5 in March, with their wins coming by an average margin of 3.88 goals per game, while their losses have come by an average margin of 2.8 goals per game, including the 3-goal loss against the Islanders on Saturday. This will be the 5^th straight road game for the Winnipeg Jets, with the Jets winning the first two and losing the last two. 

They will look to finish above .500 in their five-game road trip when they face a team they just defeated at home by a score of 3-0 earlier this month. In the final game of their five-game road trip, they will look to sweep the regular season series against the Washington Capitals. 

The Washington Capitals are looking to make up ground in the Eastern Conference. If the playoffs started today, they would not be in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, as they travel the Detroit Red Wings by 1 point and the Tampa Bay Lightning by 6 points in the Eastern Conference's Wild Card race. 

However, they have played two fewer games than the Red Wings and one fewer game than the Lightning entering the game against the Jets on Sunday. Washington has won four of their last five games following Friday's 7-6 shootout win at home against the Carolina Hurricanes. Their offensive play has improved during the stretch as they have been one of the lowest-scoring teams in the NHL this season, with an average of 2.77 goals per game, which ranks 27^th in the league to average 3.6 games over their last five matchups. 

The Capitals lost the game earlier this month on the road against the Winnipeg Jets by a score of 0-3, ending their four-game winning streak in the series against Winnipeg. The Washington Capitals will look to even the regular season series at 1-1 when they host the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday afternoon.

BetOnline has the Winnipeg Jets listed as -155 moneyline favorites on the road against the Washington Capitals on Sunday afternoon. Winnipeg finally ended their four-game losing streak in the series against Washington with a 3-0 shutout win at home earlier this month. However, Washington has outscored the Jets by an average of 1.4 goals per game in the previous five meetings in the series.

The Winnipeg Jets look exhausted after losing their 2^nd game of their current five-game road trip and have lost by an average margin of 3 goals per game over their last two games. Winnipeg won the contest earlier this month by a score of 3-0 at home; however, the Jets lost four games in a row in the series entering that matchup and lost the last ten games in the series on the road. I look forward to that trend continuing despite the Jets entering this matchup with a better record. Take the moneyline of the Washington Capitals when they face the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday afternoon.