It is Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals between the Boston Bruins and Washington Capitals on Saturday. Boston enters as the No. 3 seed after going 33-16-7 in the season. Washington was 36-15-5, No. 2 in the division.
Here you can find the best picks, news, and stats for this East Division battle at the Capital One Arena. Boston is the favorite at -125. This according to PointsBet Sportsbook, which puts Washington at +105 as the underdog.
Boston will be without Ondrej Kase and John Moore. Jakub Zboril is listed as questionable while Charlie Coyle is listed as probable. Washington will be without starting goaltender Ilya Samsonov. Also out are Evgeny Kuznetsov and Beck Malenstyn. T.J. Oshie and Michal Kempny are listed as questionable. John Carlson is listed as probable.
Boston Looking to Surge to Next Round
The Boston Bruins entered 6-3-1 in their last 10 games entering the playoffs. However, one of those losses was a 2-1 defeat to Washington in the final game of the season. The Bruins went 4-2-2 against the Capitals this year.
Boston enters 14th in goals per game at 2.9 and is 10th on the power-play at 21.9%. Brad Marchand leads the team in scoring with 69 points. He also led in goals with 29 and assist with 40. Marchand had 18 power-play points to lead the Bruins.
The Bruins are fifth in goals allowed per contest a 2.4 and are second in penalty killing it 86.0%. Tuukka Rask is 15-5-2 with a 2.28 GAA and a .913 save percentage. He allowed 10 total goals over his last five starts, with five of those coming in the loss to the Rangers on May 8.
Capitals Close on Hot Streak
Washington won four of their final five games entering the playoffs and are 7-2-1 in their last 10. The Capitals have been great at home, going 17-8-3. They finished four points ahead of Boston in the standings, tied with Pittsburgh for the top record in the East Division, but Pittsburgh was the division winner based upon a tiebreaker.
Washington is fourth in goals per game at 3.4 and is third on the power-play at 24.8%. The Capitals are led by Nicklas Backstrom who leads the team with 38 assists and 53 points. Alex Ovechkin finished as the team leader in goals with 24, including nine on the power-play. Oshie is out for this game which is a big loss considering he is the team leader in power-play goals with 13.
Washington is averaging 2.9 goals allowed per game, 17th overall, and they are fifth in penalty killing at 84.0%. With Samsonov out, it will be the rookie Vitek Vanecek between the pipes for this game. No problem for Washington however, as he is 21-10-4 with a 2.69 GAA and a .908 save percentage. Vanecek allowed nine total goals over his last four starts. He allowed one against Boston on May 11.
Trends:
Boston:
- None
Washington:
- 27-11 in their last 38 games.
- 18-8 in their last 26 games following a victory.
Not a lot of respect being shown to Washington in this contest. Oddsmakers seem to be a little bit bothered by the fact that the Capitals have a number of key injuries, including Oshie, but there is still a lot of firepower to this offense. I like the team at home in a big contest like this where each team is looking to establish themselves right off.
Pick: Take Washington at +105.
The Total:
Playoff games are usually low-scoring affairs, but this is a contest where Washington is going to look to establish themselves. The way that they beat Boston in the series is to outscore them. Both teams have solid enough goaltending, with the Bruins having a bit of an edge. This is where the Capitals have to use their superior offensive skills and dominate as they will in this game.
Pick: Go over 5.5 at +104.