The Capitals did as I predicted and forced a game 7 on Wednesday night in Washington. Tonight the two teams will battle it out in a winner advance, loser go home, game 7 for the right to take on the New Jersey Devils in the Eastern Conference Finals. With the Wednesday win my NHL Playoffs record now sits at (24-23) for +3.12 units.
Washington Capitals @ New York Rangers
The New York Rangers are the small favorites in this game at -135 and rightfully so after being the best team in the East throughout the regular season, combined with the Capitals (16-21-4) road record in the regular season. That being said both teams are currently 2-0 in elimination games in the post season with the Rangers staving off elimination twice against the Ottawa Senators and the Caps winning game 7 over the Bruins and then following that up with Wednesday nights win with their backs against the wall. The Capitals have been playing solid hockey in this series and I believe a lot has to do with limiting Ovechkin’s ice time. When he has played between 13 and 16 minutes the Caps are 3-0 and Ovechkin is actually still putting up goals with that limited ice time. However, when Ovechkin has played 19+ minutes the Caps are 0-3. Of course Ovechkin will get more ice time in a game the Caps are losing than he will when they are protecting the lead, but it is an interesting statistic nonetheless. The Caps have already shown they have the ability to win a game 7 on the road against a top team, so I think their rough road record throughout the season is out the window for this game. I think the game could really go either way and for that reason I like the Caps as underdogs.
Play: Capitals +127 (BetOnline.ag)
Written by: Niko de Jonge
Tagged with: New York Rangers betting • Washington Capitals betting