The Washington Capitals held the Carolina Hurricanes off just long enough to secure a 4-2 win in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference first round series. Now they will try to maintain their home-ice advantage by completing the two-game sweep at Capital One Arena.

After taking a 3-0 lead in Game 1, Washington ended up hanging on after giving up two late goals. Carolina generated more scoring chances, shot attempts and expected goals in that contest, but it wasn’t enough for them to earn a crucial win on the road. Can the Hurricanes pick up where they left off and win Game 2 to steal home ice advantage in the series?

Hurricanes vs Capitals Stanley Cup Playoffs Betting Analysis

Carolina has now lost five straight games versus Washington dating back to the regular season. The Hurricanes are also 0-4 in their last four games as an underdog and 4-7 this season when on the road with a total of 5.5. Even with those stats, though, Carolina is 12-5 in its last 17 road games overall.

It definitely won’t be easy against a Washington side that went 24-11-6 on home ice this season. The Capitals are 5-0 in their last five Eastern Conference quarterfinal games dating back to last year’s opening round sweep. They have won 20 of their last 29 against the division and are 12-3 in its last 15 games as a favorite.

Carolina Hurricanes

Carolina put together an excellent final two periods in Thursday’s 4-2 loss to the Capitals. The key will be to keep the momentum going into Game 2 and capitalizing on opportunities when they have them. Rookie Andrei Svechnikov, who finished third among all rookies with 20 goals in the regular season, scored both goals for the Hurricanes in the series opener. He became the youngest player to score at least two goals in a playoff game since Dainius Zubrus in 1995.

The Canes will also need their veteran forwards to step up after failing to find the back of the net in Game 1. Sebastian Aho, Teuvo Teravainen and Jordan Staal were a non-factor. That trio combined for zero points and a minus-5. Aho, who led Carolina with 83 points in 82 games this season, needs to lead the way up front in terms of offense.

The good news is that all of the analytics pointed in favor of Carolina in the opener. The question is can those numbers lead to a win. If both teams perform the same way in Game 2 and the Canes get some better goaltending, they should win.

Washington Capitals

The Capitals did just enough to survive a Game 1 win over Carolina. Braden Holtby, who turned aside 27 of 29 shots in that victory, will need a similar performance against a hungry Hurricanes side in Game 2. The good news is that Holtby was great in the opener. The bad news is that Carolina did enough in that contest to generate some confidence that they are good enough to beat the Capitals in the rematch.

Goaltending is a big edge for Washington in this series just as we saw in Game 1. While Holtby shined, Petr Mrazek was weak. He gave up three goals on just 17 shots and a couple of the goals were soft.

Nicklas Backstrom and Alex Ovechkin led the way for Washington with three goals in the Game 1 win. The fact that Backstrom and Ovechkin won’t have to do all the scoring should certainly benefit the Capitals moving forward. Evgeni Kuznetsov and T.J. Oshie in particular had some quality chances in Game 1.

They just need to keep throwing pucks at the net and they’ll find a way through. As long as Holtby holds up, the Caps should earn another narrow win.

HURRICANES

Away

3

CAPITALS

Home

5

Score
Predictions

Matchup