Boston Bruins (36-16-8) vs. Washington Capitals (37-16-7)
May 23, 2021 7:00 pm EDT
The Line: Washington Capitals +114 / Boston Bruins -126; Over/Under: -5.5
(Get latest betting odds)
The Boston Bruins and the Washington Capitals meet in game five of their First Round series in NHL action from Capital One Arena on Sunday night.
The Boston Bruins will look to win the series after taking a commanding 3-1 series lead with a 4-1 win over the Caps on Friday. The first period ended scoreless before Brad Marchand gave the Bruins the lead eight minutes into the second on the power play. David Pastrnak and Charlie Coyle pushed Boston’s lead to 3-0 early in the 3rd with goals 34 seconds apart but Alex Ovechkin would get Washington on the board 3:51 later. Marek Grzelcyk restored Boston’s three-goal cushion with just over five minutes to play and the B’s would hold onto that lead over the final 5:10 to push the Capitals to the brink of elimination at the final horn.
Tuukka Rask got the win in goal for Boston after stopping 19 of 20 shots faced in the win while Ilya Samsonov ended up with the loss between the pipes for the Capitals after giving up all 4 goals on 37 shots faced in the defeat.
Boston is 15-6 in their last 21 games overall and 10-4 in their last 14 games following a win while the over is 2-0-2 in their last 4 games as a favorite. Washington is 5-2 in their last 7 games overall and 2-5 in their last 7 games against a team with a winning record while the under is 4-1-1 in their last 6 home games. The favorite is 6-1 in the last 7 meetings between these two teams.
I was one person that definitely thought this series was going 7 games when the matchups were first announced, but that was before the Capitals looked pretty much lifeless through the first four games of the series as Boston’s been the better team. You feel bad for a guy like Alex Ovechkin, who is so passionate about the game, but the bottom line is that the Bruins have been better than Washington and the goaltending for the Caps hasn’t held up. I think the Bruins finish the job on the road and eliminate the Capitals here, so give me Boston and lay the juice.
