Boston Bruins vs Washington Capitals NHL Picks, Odds, Predictions 3/3/21
2021-03-03 19:00:00 EDT
The Washington Capitals and Boston Bruins meet Wednesday in NHL action at the TD Garden.
The Washington Capitals look for a win after winning six of their last eight games. The Washington Capitals are averaging 3.4 goals per game and are scoring on 29.1 percent of their power play opportunities. Nicklas Backstrom leads Washington with 10 goals, John Carlson has 14 assists and Alex Ovechkin has 63 shots on goal. Defensively, the Washington Capitals are allowing 3.2 goals per game and are killing 80 percent of their opponents power plays. Ilya Samsonov has given up nine goals on 74 shots faced and Vitek Vanecek has allowed 47 goals on 517 shots.
The Boston Bruins need a win after losing four of their last six games. The Boston Bruins are averaging three goals per game and are scoring on 26.8 percent of their power play opportunities. Brad Marchand leads Boston with 10 goals, Patrice Bergeron has 12 assists and Nick Ritchie has 42 shots on goal. Defensively, the Boston Bruins are allowing 2.6 goals per game and are killing 87.9 percent of their opponents power plays. Tuukka Rask has given up 33 goals on 318 shots faced and Jaroslav Halak has allowed 17 goals on 175 shots.
The Capitals are 0-4 in their last 4 Wednesday games and 4-1 in their last 5 overall. The Bruins are 5-1 in their last 6 home games and 11-5 in their last 16 overall. The over is 10-3 in Capitals last 13 games as an underdog. The under is 10-3 in Bruins last 13 Wednesday games. The Capitals are 8-1 in the last 9 meetings in Boston and 36-15 in the last 51 meetings. The home team is 4-1 in the last 5 meetings.
The Boston Bruins are probably the better team on paper, but it’s the Capitals that’s playing the better hockey right now and has owned this series over the years. The Capitals have won seven of the last 10 meetings against the Bruins, and that includes winning eight of the last nine meetings in Boston. The Bruins probably should be the favorites here on their home ice, but the value is with the Caps and the plus money.
