NHL betting aficionados know just how awesome the series between the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins has the potential to be. These two teams breezed through their first round series, and many believe the winners will easily be on their way to the Stanley Cup Finals as well. Game 1 could be a real tone-setter for the winning club on Thursday night.
NHL Playoff Odds at BookMaker.eu
Pittsburgh Penguins +115
Washington Capitals -135
Over/Under 5 Over -125
ODDS ANALYSIS
The Caps went 29-8-4 at home this year and won two of their three games at the Verizon Center against Philadelphia in the opening round of the playoffs, so they really have to be favored in Game 1 in spite of the fact that no one is playing better hockey at the moment than Pittsburgh.
The total will start off in this series at a flat 5, though if these offenses play to their potential, that figure won't be around in Game 2 and beyond in favor of over/unders of 5.5.
GOALIE REPORT
Braden Holtby was phenomenal against the Flyers, and he was really unlucky to be saddled with a couple losses in the six games. He's got a .968 save percentage and a 0.84 GAA to show for his work thus far in the second season, and he's following up that awesome regular season he had with more great stats.
The Penguins still won't have Marc-Andre Fleury between the pipes for this one, so it'll be up to young Matthew Murray once again.
Murray was brilliant against the Rangers after replacing Jeff Zatkoff in Game 3. The rookie posted a 1.33 GAA and a .955 save percentage. This is obviously a much tougher test though, and we'll have to see how Murray handles the pressure of playing a big game on the road against a team which is ready for what he's bringing to the table.
LIVE BETTING
One only needs to look at the power play goals scored by these two teams in the opening round to know how dangerous they are. Both tallied eight times with the man advantage.
It's the Pittsburgh PP we're really focusing in on here, though. Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Phil Kessel and Patric Hornqvist often share the ice together on the power play, and these four combined to score all eight of the power play goals against the Rangers. They're going against a penalty kill which is anchored by John Carlson, Karl Alzner and one of the best defensive forwards in the league in T.J. Oshie.
Washington allowed just one Philly power play goal in six games, and you can bet that the battle between this kill and the Pittsburgh power play will be the one which decides this series.
QUICK PICK
If Fleury comes back in this series at some point and looks sharp, we might have different feelings on the whole thing, but for the time being, we're all about the Capitals and the value they're presenting.
Sure, Pittsburgh has been wicked hot and was fantastic against the Rangers, but this is a far different series against a much different team, one which has a lot of history it would love to erase.
We look for Ovie and the gang to come up with another sterling effort early against Murray to run him out of this game.
NHL Odds: Capitals 6, Penguins 2
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Real-time spreads, totals, props and moneyline odds are all available by clicking here, so start betting with BookMaker today! The matchup between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Washington Capitals will start at 8:00 p.m. ET on Thursday, April 28, 2016 at the Verizon Center. Game 1 of this series will be televised live on NBC Sports Network.
