Hurricanes vs. Capitals Game 1 Prediction: NHL Playoffs Betting Odds
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Jeremy Perry
The Washington Capitals aren’t getting much respect heading into the playoffs as the defending Stanley Cup champions. A lot of people feel they could be vulnerable to an upset by the upstart Carolina Hurricanes. However, the Caps swept its four-game regular season series against Carolina and should feel good about this matchup. Let’s take a closer look at Game 1 of this Eastern Conference Quarterfinal.
Hurricanes vs. Capitals Stanley Cup Playoffs Betting Analysis
Carolina was able to generate some momentum heading in to the playoffs with four wins over its final five games. The Hurricanes are also 12-5 in their last 17 road games overall. Carolina has struggled as a sports betting underdog throughout the year with a 14-43 record in its last 57 games when listed between +151 and +200 odds. The Hurricanes were outscored 16-9 in four losses to the Capitals during the regular season.
Meanwhile, Washington is 11-3 in its last 14 games as a sports betting favorite. The Capitals are also 5-2 in their last seven games overall. Washington went 4-0 in the opening round of last year’s playoffs. The Capitals have to be happy that the series opens on a Thursday. Coincidentally, Washington is 7-0 in its last seven games played on Thursday nights.
Carolina Hurricanes
There’s plenty of reason for optimism in Carolina after ending the league’s longest playoff drought. The Hurricanes appear to be surging at the right time. They started the year just 15-17-5 but the analytics darlings went 31-12-2 over their final 45 games.
The keys to Carolina’s ability to get past the first round will be two-fold: possess the puck, as they typically do so well, and turn that possession into goal scoring opportunities with Sebastian Aho, Teuvo Teravainen and Justin Williams. Carolina boasts an intriguing blend of veterans and young talent so it will be interesting to see if they can steal a game on the road to open the series.
The Hurricanes also need solid goaltending with Petr Mrazek likely to get the nod for Game 1. Mrazek went 23-14-3 with a 2.39 goals-against average and a .914 save percentage during the regular season but the playoffs are a different animal. He’s mostly been a subpar goaltender in his career but this has been a banner year for him. Can he keep it up in the playoffs?
Washington Capitals
It’s incredible to see how Washington has been completely overlooked heading into the playoffs.
The Capitals shook off any championship hangover to finish with the best record in the Metropolitan division once again and they have a lot going for them heading into this postseason. Their offence should be fine with Alex Ovechkin, Evgeni Kuznetsov, Nicklas Backstrom and T.J. Oshie leading the way up front. They have lots of scoring depth as seven different players scored at least 20 goals.
The Capitals have one of the better powerplay in the NHL (12th overall) and they are effective scoring at five-on-five. The key for Washington will be the play of goaltender Braden Holtby, who was inconsistent throughout the regular season but played well after the All-Star break. Holtby went 32-19-5 with a 2.82 goals-against average and a .911 save percentage this season, but went 15-7-2 since the break with a 2.42 GAA and .920 save percentage. He was strong at home this season, so look for him to key the Game 1 win.
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