The Washington Capitals and the Montreal Canadiens meet Sunday in NHL action from the Bell Centre. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s a Canadiens vs Capitals Prediction.
Series Recap
The Montreal Canadiens got on the board in the series, pulling back a 6-3 win to make it a 2-1 series. Connor McMichael opened the scoring for the Caps just 3:20 into the game before Alex Carrier tied the game at one with less than a minute to go in the first. Nick Suzuki gave the Canadiens the lead 8:37 into the second, but the lead lasted all of 2:10 before Jakob Chychrun tied things up at two. Cole Caufield scored with :09 to go in the second to give Montreal a 3-2 lead heading into the final frame. Alex Ovechkin scored 2:39 into the third to tie things up at three, but Christian Dvorak gave Montreal the lead for good just 1:38 later to make it 4-3. Juraj Slafkovsky and Alex Newhook added goals later in the third to ice the win for Montreal to get on the board in the set.
Capitals Trying To Head Home With 3-1 Lead
Dylan Strome leads the Capitals with 82 points including 29 goals and a team-high 53 assists while Alex Ovechkin has 73 points with 44 goals and 29 assists and Connor McMichael’s added 57 points with 26 goals and 31 assists. Aliaksei Protas has 66 points with 30 goals and 36 assists while Tom Wilson has 65 points and John Carlson has 51 points with Wilson logging 33 goals and 32 assists and Carlson adding 46 assists. Pierre-Luc Dubois also has 66 points with 46 assists of his own. Jakob Chychrun has 47 points with 20 goals and 27 assists as well on the year. In goal for Washington, Logan Thompson has gone 31-6-6 with a 2.49 GAA and a .910 save percentage while Charlie Lindgren is 20-14-3 with a 2.73 GAA and an .896 save percentage this season.
Why the Washington Capitals will win
- The Capitals have won eight of their last nine night games against Atlantic Division opponents.
- The Canadiens have lost each of their last three Game 4s of an Eastern Conference First Round series.
- The Canadiens have failed to cover the puck line in three of their last four games following a home win.
- The Capitals have covered the puck line in three of their last four road games following a road loss.
Washington Capitals Player Prop Facts
- Alex Ovechkin has scored at least one goal in seven of the Capitals’ last eight games as favorites.
- Dylan Strome has recorded at least one assist in seven of the Capitals’ last eight games as favorites.
- Aliaksei Protas has recorded at least one point in each of his last 10 appearances with the Capitals as favorites against Eastern Conference opponents.
- Aliaksei Protas ranks 1st in the Metropolitan Division for Plus/Minus (+40) this season.
Canadiens Trying To Make Series A Best Of Three
Nick Suzuki has a team-high 89 points with 30 goals and a team-high 59 assists while Cole Caufield has 70 points with a team-high 37 goals. Mike Matheson has 25 assists while Juraj Slafkovsky has 51 points with 33 assists and Lane Hutson has 60 assists as well on the year. Brendan Gallagher has 38 points with 21 goals while Jake Evans has 36 points with 13 goals and 23 assists. In goal for Montreal, Sam Montembeault has gone 31-24-7 with a 2.82 GAA and a .902 save percentage while Cayden Primeau is 2-3-1 with a 4.70 GAA and an .836 save percentage this season. Jakub Dobes is also 7-4-3 with a 2.74 GAA and a .909 save percentage as well on the year.
Why the Montreal Canadiens will win
- The Canadiens have won each of their last 10 home games against Eastern Conference opponents.
- The Capitals have lost three of their last four games as road favorites.
- The Canadiens have covered the puck line in each of their last six games as home underdogs.
- The Capitals have failed to cover the puck line in seven of their last eight road games.
Montreal Canadiens Player Prop Facts
- Nick Suzuki has scored at least one goal in each of the Canadiens’ last seven home games against Eastern Conference opponents.
- Cole Caufield has recorded an assist in seven of the Canadiens’ last eight games as home underdogs against Metropolitan Division opponents.
- Cole Caufield has recorded at least one point in seven of the Canadiens’ last eight home playoff games.
- Mike Matheson ranks 1st in the Atlantic Division for average time on ice (25:05) this season.
Total Goals Facts
- Each of the Canadiens’ last 10 Sunday games as underdogs have gone OVER the total goals line.
- Six of the Capitals’ last seven road games against Atlantic Division opponents have gone OVER the total goals line.
- Eight of the last nine Sunday games at Bell Centre have gone OVER the total goals line.
Canadiens vs Capitals Prediction
I’m on Montreal here. I want to take the Capitals, but the uncertainty of Logan Thompson’s status after leaving last game with an injury throws a wrench into things. I didn’t love how Charlie Lindgren looked in relief of Thompson after the injury. Montreal was at their best at home this season, and I think that house is going to be rocking with a chance to make this a best of three series. With Montreal smelling blood in the water, I think they get it done here. Give me the Canadiens.