Hockey Today
SCOREBOARD
Monday, May 4
Pittsburgh at Washington (7 p.m. EDT). Washington beat Pittsburgh 3-2 on Saturday in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinal series.
STARS
Sunday
— Jonas Hiller and Todd Marchant, Ducks. Hiller made a career-high 59 saves, and Hiller scored 1:15 into the third overtime to give Anaheim a 4-3 victory over Detroit. The Western Conference semifinal series is tied 1-1.
— Cam Ward, Hurricanes, made 36 saves for his second playoff shutout in four games in Carolina’s 3-0 victory in Boston. The Eastern Conference series is tied 1-1.
STREAKS
Detroit and Boston both lost for the first time in the playoffs Sunday after winning their first five games. Anaheim beat Detroit 4-3 in triple overtime, and Carolina topped Boston 3-0. Both series are tied 1-1.
SPEAKING
“We had to go back to Anaheim tied. That was our goal. Anything can happen.”—Anaheim forward Corey Perry after the Ducks beat Detroit 4-3 in triple overtime Sunday to tie the series 1-1.
“I don’t think anybody came into this series thinking there would be a sweep. Or, that it would be easy.”—Detroit coach Mike Babcock.
Pens look to even score
By Judd Hall
The NHL knew it had something special with the Capitals and Rangers facing off in the Eastern Conference Semifinal. So special, in fact, that they showcased the series opener on NBC last Saturday afternoon. I guess it shouldn’t come as a surprise that they’ve made the second game a primetime affair on Monday.
Game 1 didn’t disappoint as both Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin found the back of the net in the first period. But Washington got some sick goaltending and enough firepower in unexpected places to come through with a 3-2 win as a $1.40 home favorite. It had to be a disappointment for the Pens as they outshot DC 36-26.
Like I mentioned, the Caps benefitted from some sick goaltending from Simeon Varlamov. The young Russian netminder was able to stop 34 of those 36 shots fired his way, one of which has to be the save of the playoffs.
Washington also saw Dave Steckel come through with his first goal of the playoffs. To say the output was surprising from the third-line pivot is an understatement as he scored just eight times during the regular season.
Pittsburgh does have a reason to be upset with the result as they truly outplayed the Capitals on the attack last Saturday. They not only had the shot advantage, but the Pens also won the special teams advantage with five power plays. Unfortunately, the Penguins couldn’t convert on any of those chances.
Aside from the non-existent power play, one thing the Penguins have to do is get Evgeni Malkin more involved with the offense. I never thought I’d hear myself say that, but he was very average with just two SOG and an assist in Game 1. This is a guy that averages at least 4.5 shots per game against the Caps. Is it because Washington is applying solid pressure or is Malkin just hesitating with the puck? We’ll find out if the Hart Trophy finalist can improve on Monday night.
The betting shops appear to be leaning towards Pitt evening this series as they installed the Caps as a small $1.20 home “chalk” (risk $120 to win $100) with a total of 5 ½. The positive of this listing is you can get Washington on the puck line for a nice plus-220 return.
For the Penguins to win this game it will have to go against their trend of the year. In matches coming after a full day’s rest from a lost, Pittsburgh is 8-9 for the season. Washington, on the other hand, is 23-10 when taking a day off after a victory. The ‘over’ is only a slight lean in cashing at a 48-44 clip combined for both squads on one day of rest.
As mentioned earlier, the Caps were outshot in the last game. That’s only happened 30 times this season with Washington posting a 18-12 record…and 2-0 during the playoffs.
Much more important to bettors is not what the Caps have done when outshot, but what they do in the game following a win in which they were outshot. The Capitals are a healthy 12-5 in contests that they play after winning in spite of being outshot during the 2008-2009 campaign.
The puck drops on this fixture at 7:05 p.m. EDT on Versus.
vegasinsider.com
Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Washington Capitals
The Capitals drew first blood with a 3-2 win over the Penguins at the Verizon Center to take a 1-0 second-round series lead on Saturday afternoon.
Washington won that contest as a -135 home favorite while the final score played under the 5.5-goal total.
Team records:
Pittsburgh: 45-28-9
Washington: 50-24-8
Pittsburgh most recently:
When playing on Monday are 6-4
Before playing Ottawa are 6-4
After playing Washington are 8-2
After a loss are 7-3
Washington most recently:
When playing on Monday are 6-4
Before playing Calgary are 4-6
After playing Pittsburgh are 5-5
After a win are 6-4
A few trends to consider:
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Pittsburgh's last 5 games when playing Washington
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Pittsburgh's last 8 games
The total has gone OVER in 9 of Pittsburgh's last 12 games when playing on the road against Washington
Pittsburgh is 5-2 SU in its last 7 games when playing on the road against Washington
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Washington's last 7 games
Washington is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Washington's last 5 games at home
Washington is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing Pittsburgh
Next up:
Washington at Pittsburgh, Wednesday, May 6
PITTSBURGH (49-31-0-9, 107 pts.) at WASHINGTON (55-27-0-8, 118 pts.)
There are no Top Trends with records of significance that apply to this game.
Head-to-Head Series History
PITTSBURGH is 8-5 (+2.9 Units) against the spread versus WASHINGTON over the last 3 seasons
PITTSBURGH is 8-5-0 straight up against WASHINGTON over the last 3 seasons
8 of 12 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Over=+3.6 Units)
PITTSBURGH vs. WASHINGTON
Pittsburgh is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games on the road
Pittsburgh is 12-6 SU in its last 18 games when playing Washington
Washington is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Washington's last 7 games
Pittsburgh at Washington
Pittsburgh:
12-3 SU in the 2nd game of a playoff series
30-14 SU when playing 5 or less games in 14 days
Washington:
49-59 SU at home after playing 2 consecutive home games
4-9 SU after 2 straight wins by 1 goal
NHL Playoffs
Pittsburgh lost four of five to Washington this year, after being 10-2 in last three years against the Caps; Penguins are now 0-17 on power play the last four games (29:42). Washington won its last four games- they got outshot 36-26 in Game 1, but part of that was 10:00 they played a man down, while Caps scored a goal in just 3:01 with man edge. Over is 6-1-1 in last eight Pittsburgh-Washington games.