The Washington Capitals are set to be tested as they haven't been tested before this season. They need to win three games in a row against the hottest team in hockey to keep their season alive, but they have to win one of those games first. The good news is that Game 5 is at home. The bad news is that the Pittsburgh Penguins have really been the better of these two teams in this series, and there's no doubt they have pedigree and history on their side.
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ODDS ANALYSIS
This will be an interesting game to line for sure. On one hand, the Penguins are proving their worth as the better of these two teams based on results. On the other hand, Washington has its back to the wall and needs this one to stay alive.
Common logic tells you that the Capitals should be favored by a relatively big margin at something like -150 after being favored by a -129 mark on the road in Game 4. Still, Washington was only -125 and -140 in Games 1 and 2. How much higher than that can it really go?
GOALIE REPORT
And the legend grows. Matthew Murray once again played out of his mind on Wednesday night, stuffing up awesome opportunities for the Caps time and time again. His final stat line of 34-of-36 in save chances wasn't the greatest ever, but it was good enough to beat the Presidents' Trophy holders.
Murray is the only goalie with at least two starts in these playoffs to not be beaten in regulation time.
Braden Holtby has to wonder what he has to do to win games. He's 5-4-1 in the postseason, but he's got a 1.59 GAA and a .945 save percentage. Those are Stanley Cup winning numbers right there, but the Washington offense just hasn't been able to make it stand up.
LIVE BETTING
You just get the feeling the Capitals are frustrated here. T.J. Oshie did some flopping trying to get penalties called against the Pens on Wednesday night, while Karl Alzner took a foolish high sticking penalty late in the third of a 2-2 game.
The Capitals have to keep their composure. They're getting beaten right now by a goaltender playing out of his skull out of nowhere, but if they lose their head mentally and can't get it screwed back on straight, they're going to get bounced out of the playoffs in this game.
QUICK PICK
The line means a lot to us in this game. At a price of -130 or so, we'd love to be on Washington's side. We can definitely see a case where the Capitals come out with their hair on fire and win this game going away.
That said, at the expected price of Washington -150 or so, we just can't back the hosts. The Penguins are playing too well at the moment to be stopped, and they're doing all of this with Sidney Crosby scoring just one point through the first four games of this series.
We'll take the goal and a half on the puck-line as the healthy compromise, as we think this one comes right down to the wire as the first four games have.
NHL Odds: Penguins 2, Capitals 1
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