New York Islanders vs. Washington Capitals – 8/18/20 NHL Pick, Odds, and Prediction

The Washington Capitals and the New York Islanders will meet in game four of their best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarter-final matchup in NHL action from Scotiabank Arena on Tuesday.

The Washington Capitals will try to stave off elimination after a 2-1 overtime win by the Islanders pushed Washington to the brink of elimination in a 3-0 series hole after the loss.

Anders Lee opened the scoring for the Islanders with just over five minutes to go in the opening period, and the lead held until Evgeny Kznetsov tied the game at one for Washington just under six minutes into the second on the power play. The tie held through the second and all of the third as the two sides went to overtime for the first time in the series. The extra frame didn’t last long though, as Mathew Barzal scored just 4:28 into the extra frame to give the Isles the win and the huge 3-0 series lead heading into Tuesday’s matchup. Semyon Varlamov got the win in net for the Islanders after improving to 6-1 in the postseason, stopping 22 of 23 shots faced in the winning effort while Braden Holtby took the loss for Washington, falling to 1-4-1 in postseason play after giving up two goals on 34 shots faced in defeat.

Washington is 1-6 in their last 7 games overall and 1-5 in their last 6 games against a team with a winning record while the under is 4-0 in their last 4 games as an underdog. New York is 5-1 in their last 6 games following a win and 4-0 in their last 4 games overall while the over is 13-2-1 in their last 16 Tuesday games. Washington is 0-4 in the last 4 meetings between these two teams and the over is 5-1 in the last 6 meetings between these two teams as well.

The problem here is that the total seems about right for a game four with Washington’s playoff lives at stake, as I could see this being a 3-2 game. However, while the over has a strong history in this matchup, I’m going to side with the under here like in game three. I think we’re going to see a tight game where neither side will want to be the first to blink and make a mistake and that could go a long way to keeping this one under the total at the final horn. Give me the under as my free pick in this game, but my stronger play is on the side and I have that available as a premium pick that you can find here.