Capitals-Canadiens Outlook
By Judd Hall
No. 1 Washington Capitals vs. No. 8 Montreal Canadiens
Series Price: Washington -551, Montreal +462
Series Format: Washington, 2-2-1-1-1
Skinny: Washington may have lost its season finale against the Bruins in a shootout, but it did nothing to show how good this club was to win its first ever Presidents’ Trophy. The Capitals closed out the regular season with a 13-3-5 run since coming back from the Olympic Break. The Canadiens backed their way into the playoffs after finishing up with a 3-4-4 mark to gain the lowly eighth seed in the Eastern Conference.
The Capitals gained home ice for the Stanley Cup Playoffs because they have one of the greatest arenas in the game. Washington has pulled down a league best 30-5-6 record at the Verizon Center this year. They were solid on the road as well, tying San Jose and Los Angeles with 24 wins.
Opponents have had trouble trying to figure out who to stop when taking on the Caps. Alex Ovechkin has 50 goals, while Alexander Semin lit the lamp 40 times and Nicklas Backstrom found the back of the net on 33 occasions. Jose Theodore will get the starting nod between the pipes after going 30-7-7 with a 2.81 goals against average in 47 appearances. But don’t be shocked if Bruce Boudreau throws Simeon Varlamov into the fray as he showed some skills in the Capitals’ playoff run last season.
Montreal has played pretty much non-descript hockey for much of the season, never going above .500 until just before the Olympic Break. The Habs have some scoring punch with Brian Gionta (28 goals, 18 assists, 46 points), Scott Gomez (12-47-59), Michael Cammalleri (26-24-50) and Tomas Plekanec (25-45-70). What is a problem in that group is that none of them are six feet tall. So it will be a challenge to go up against a defensive corp that averages 6’3” per skater.
The Canadiens do have a goalie they can feel confident in sending out there with Jaroslav Halak. The Czech netminder has gone 9-3-3 with a 2.07 GAA over the last two months.
These teams split the four-game season series and haven’t seen one another since Feb. 10. The ‘over’ took a slight edge at 2-1-1 in those contests. The Habs do have reason to be hopeful about stealing a win in Washington after claiming a 3-2 victory on Nov. 20 as $1.80 road pups.
Gambling Notes: The sportsbooks were doing their level best to keep you from gambling on the Capitals by making at least $2.00 faves in 31 games. They posted a solid 21-10 mark in those games. For the gamblers taking Washington on the puck line on those occasions (you know, to offset the insanity of dropping a boatload of cash on the outright win), they saw them go 13-18. The ‘over’ was 19-9-3 in those contests.
Montreal will most likely be a home pup for games in this series. The Habs have been in that position 19 times, going 8-11 in those fixtures. The Canadiens do have the benefit of going 6-4 at home against clubs out of the Southeast Division.
Outlook: If the Canadiens had some sort of a decent defense, I’d give them half a shot in this series. But you’re asking way too much of Halak to win this round. Alex Ovechkin and company have just too much firepower for Montreal, helping the Capitals win in five games.
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