The Pittsburgh Penguins visit the Washington Capitals in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series on Sunday on NBC. The Penguins and Capitals have developed into one of the best rivalries in the NHL but unfortunately for the Capitals, it has been extremely one-sided in the playoffs in favor of Pittsburgh. Let’s look at Game 2 of this series on Sunday and NHL Playoff picks.
At 3 p.m. ET, tune into NBC for live television coverage of this NHL game on Sunday, April 29, 2018, at Capital One Arena.
We'll have NHL odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game on the NHL Sunday schedule.
Odds Analysis
The Capitals are slight home favorites in this contest, with the total listed at 6. The Capitals finished with the better overall record in the regular season than the Penguins, so they have the home ice advantage in this series. Pittsburgh was not a very good road team in the regular season, as they went just 17-24 on the road. The Penguins did play well on the road in their series against the Flyers, winning all three games, but that may be due more to their dominance of the Flyers than anything else. Pittsburgh went over the total 24 times in their 41 road games, under just 16 times, with one push. They went over once, under once, with one push in their three games in Philadelphia.
The Capitals were 28-13 at home during the regular season, but they went just 1-2 in their three home games against the Blue Jackets. Washington went over the total 21 times at home during the regular season, under 19 times, with one push. They went over the total in all three of their playoff home games against Columbus.
Special Teams
The Penguins have the top power play in the league at just over 26%. They were just 17th in penalty killing at 80%. The Capitals were 7th on the power play in the regular season and 15th in penalty killing.
Key Stat
This is the third straight season the Penguins and Capitals will be meeting in the playoffs and it has been all Penguins so far. The Penguins have won nine of the previous ten playoff series against the Capitals. The teams split their four regular season meetings this season.
The Penguins relied heavily on Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel in Round 1, while the Capitals got strong play out of Alexander Ovechkin. The power play for both teams is excellent, so this series may come down to which team stays out of the penalty box.
Game 2 and this overall series may come down to how well Matt Murray plays in goal for the Penguins. He was great at times, but he looked like an injury was bothering him at other times in the series against Philadelphia. He needs to be great and outplay Braden Holtby for Pittsburgh to win this series because this year’s Pittsburgh team is not as good defensively as past squads.
Free NHL Picks
If the Penguins were completely healthy I would make this game and this series a toss-up, but they are not. Evgeni Malkin and Carl Hagelin both missed Game 1 and I am not entirely sure Murray is totally healthy. What I do know is that Pittsburgh’s defense is not that great and they oftentimes hang Murray out to dry. The Capitals have the edge in defense and they have been a very good home team this season. I give Washington the edge on Sunday, so I will lay the small price and take the Capitals at home. I know that the series trends point to taking the under, but I just don’t like the Penguins defense, so I will also play this game to go over the total.
NHL Odds: Capitals 5, Penguins 3
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