Saturday's Best NHL Bets
Montreal Canadiens at Washington Capitals (-350, 6)
If the Capitals are as pissed off as their fans were following Thursday’s upset loss in the Game 1, the Canadiens could be in for a long night Saturday.
Friday morning, links to this distraught Caps fan (below) were passed around the office like influenza. And if you bet on Washington, shelling out a fat -278 for the NHL’s top team, you were probably feeling the same way.
The Capitals fell 3-2 in overtime to Montreal after peppering Canadiens keeper Jaroslav Halak with 47 shots – none of which came from star forward Alexander Ovechkin. He finished the game with goose eggs in his stats columns for the second straight game, going back to the 4-3 overtime loss to the Boston Bruins in the regular season finale.
“He didn’t play well,” Washington coach Bruce Boudreau said of Ovechkin to reporters after the game. “When you get (47) shots on goal and you have four power plays and Ovechkin doesn’t get any. They took him away pretty good, but I just don’t think he was very good tonight.”
Keeping Ovechkin and the Capitals explosive offense under wraps will be even tougher with Game 1’s disappointment still lingering inside the Verizon Center. The best advice for Habs backers is to run and hide Saturday night.
Pick: Washington
Boston Bruins at Buffalo Sabres (-155, 5)
Thursday’s 2-1 win for the Buffalo Sabres in Game 1 didn’t catch many hockey fans off guard. Everyone expected a slowed-down, grind-it-out matchup between these clubs, and that’s just what they got.
With goaltenders like Ryan Miller and Tuukka Rask making a combined 68 saves in Game 1, NHL bettors should find a comfortable chair for the rest of the series because it will be more of the same Saturday night.
“Low-scoring matches are how this (Boston-Buffalo regular season) has been,” Rask told the media following Saturday’s 2-1 final that played under the 5-goal total. “We just have to push more pucks by (Miller).”
Boston and Buffalo have stayed under the number in four of their last six contests with the other two games pushing with the 5-goal total. Books have already moved Saturday’s total from 5.5 to 5 goals, which should still give total bettors enough of an inclination as to where this one is going.
Pick: Under
What Bettors Need To Know: NHL Saturday playoffs
By JON KUIPERIJ
Montreal Canadiens at Washington Capitals (-325, 6)
The President's Trophy champion Capitals need a win over Montreal Saturday to avoid falling into an 0-2 hole in the opening round of the playoffs.
The Canadiens stunned Washington 3-2 in overtime Thursday in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals. Tomas Plekanec scored the game-winner 13 minutes into the extra session after Scott Gomez tied the game with 13 minutes remaining in regulation.
What's wrong with Ovie?
Rumors are swirling that Caps sniper Alexander Ovechkin isn't 100 percent healthy.
The Russian superstar was held pointless in his final regular season game to lose out on both the league goal and point titles and did not register a single shot on goal in Thursday's game.
That's saying something, considering he fired a league-leading 368 shots on goal during the regular season.
In Ovechkin's defense, he did have five shots blocked. He was also shadowed by Habs defenseman Jaroslav Spacek throughout the contest.
"He didn't play good," Washington coach Bruce Boudreau said flatly. "They gapped up real well on him, but I don't think Alex played very well."
Adding fuel to the injury rumors is the fact that Ovechkin recently brought his personal trainer over from Russia.
Backing it up
Plekanec stirred the pot a bit before the series began, saying Washington goalie Jose Theodore wasn't exactly Martin Brodeur or Ryan Miller.
He then went out and picked the corner behind Theodore to win Game 1 in OT.
Plekanec backed off on his statement after Thursday's game.
"I never said anything bad about their goaltending," he said. "I said they had really good goalies and they proved it."
Theodore laughed it off as well.
"It was just to set up the mood for the playoffs," said Theodore, a former Canadiens star. "Tomas is a great player."
Slow starters
Washington is no stranger to a slow start in the playoffs. Last year, the Caps lost their first two games to the Rangers before rallying to win four of the next five contests and advance to the second round.
Caps forward Nicklas Backstrom said he and his teammates won't panic after losing Game 1.
"I think we didn't play as good as we could, and hopefully we can talk about it tomorrow and get ready for Saturday," he said. "It's just the first game, and we have to talk about what we did wrong and get ready again."
Trends
If you're looking for any postseason history between the Caps and Habs, you won't find any. This year marks the first time the teams have met in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Thursday was the fourth game of the last six meetings between Washington and Montreal to go to overtime.
Washington is still 41-18 in its last 59 games overall and 71-30 in its last 101 at home.
Los Angeles Kings at Vancouver Canucks (-177, 5)
The Canucks have an opportunity to take a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference quarterfinals when they host the Kings.
Vancouver won Thursday's series opener 3-2 in overtime. Mikael Samuelsson won the game with his second goal of the contest, scoring nine minutes into OT. The goal came a few minutes after Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo made a game-saving stop, sweeping the puck off his own goal line.
That's more like it
Vancouver was mediocre in the final month of the regular season, losing seven of its last 13 games. But the Canucks were back on top of their game to start the playoffs, outshooting Los Angeles 44-27 in Game 1. They also avenged an 8-3 loss to the Kings in the last meeting between the teams on April 1.
"It was a good performance," said forward Henrik Sedin, who set up Samuelsson for the winning goal. "We played pretty well. We got back to being focused defensively, and didn't give up much at all. It was really good."
Quick thinking
The Kings’ goaltending was seen as a bit of a question mark going into the series, considering Jonathan Quick was winless in his last eight regular-season starts and had never experienced the postseason.
Quick answered those questions in Game 1, however, nearly stealing the game for the Kings with a strong performance.
"I thought he played excellent, gave us a chance," Kings forward Ryan Smyth said. "He stood tall on some of the scrambles in front of the net. He was really effective. It is a confidence-booster for all of us. We believe in him and we believe in this hockey team."
Strength against strength
Vancouver had the second-best home record in the NHL this season, with its 30-8-3 mark ranking only behind Washington.
But the Kings were excellent on the road, tying the Sharks for the second-best mark on the highway with a 24-14-3 record.
"Just because you have home ice doesn't mean you're guaranteed to win," Vancouver defenseman Shane O'Brien said. "If anything, it does put a little more pressure on us at home."
Bad Alberts
The Canucks might be without defenseman Andrew Alberts for Game 2.
Alberts was assessed a five-minute major penalty and game misconduct Thursday for hitting Kings forward Brad Richardson from behind.
Alberts saw 8:25 of ice time before being ejected midway through the second period.
Trends
The last four Kings/Canucks games in Vancouver have gone under the total, and five of the last six overall.
Los Angeles is 1-6 in its last seven games against the Canucks, and has lost its last five trips to Vancouver.
The favorite is 5-1 in the last six meetings.
BOSTON (39-31-0-13, 91 pts.) at BUFFALO (46-28-0-9, 101 pts.)
Top Trends for this game.
BOSTON is 39-44 ATS (-15.8 Units) in all games this season.
BOSTON is 51-49 ATS (-14.6 Units) second half of the season over the last 2 seasons.
BUFFALO is 207-144 ATS (+58.3 Units) vs. division opponents since 1996.
BOSTON is 36-16 ATS (+16.5 Units) after a division game over the last 2 seasons.
Head-to-Head Series History
BUFFALO is 11-10-0 straight up against BOSTON over the last 3 seasons
14 of 20 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Under=+7.3 Units)
MONTREAL (40-33-0-10, 90 pts.) at WASHINGTON (54-16-0-13, 121 pts.)
Top Trends for this game.
MONTREAL is 34-43 ATS (-22.5 Units) on Saturday games over the last 3 seasons.
WASHINGTON is 22-6 ATS (+14.3 Units) revenging a home loss versus opponent over the last 2 seasons.
WASHINGTON is 48-18 ATS (+27.2 Units) revenging a loss versus opponent over the last 2 seasons.
MONTREAL is 25-17 ATS (+43.8 Units) in a road game where where the total is 6 or more over the last 3 seasons.
WASHINGTON is 7-14 ATS (-14.3 Units) in home games in the first round of the playoffs since 1996.
WASHINGTON is 18-31 ATS (-23.0 Units) in home games after playing 3 consecutive home games since 1996.
Head-to-Head Series History
MONTREAL is 6-7 (+0.5 Units) against the spread versus WASHINGTON over the last 3 seasons
WASHINGTON is 7-6-0 straight up against MONTREAL over the last 3 seasons
7 of 12 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Over=+1.4 Units)
LOS ANGELES (46-27-0-10, 102 pts.) at VANCOUVER (50-28-0-5, 105 pts.)
Top Trends for this game.
VANCOUVER is 19-6 ATS (+19.0 Units) in home games when playing against a team with a winning record this season.
LOS ANGELES is 46-37 ATS (+3.7 Units) in all games this season.
VANCOUVER is 150-152 ATS (-71.6 Units) in home games second half of the season since 1996.
Head-to-Head Series History
VANCOUVER is 8-5-0 straight up against LOS ANGELES over the last 3 seasons
8 of 13 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Under=+2.1 Units)
BOSTON vs. BUFFALO
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Boston's last 8 games
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Boston's last 6 games when playing Buffalo
Buffalo is 6-2 SU in its last 8 games when playing at home against Boston
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Buffalo's last 5 games at home
MONTREAL vs. WASHINGTON
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Montreal's last 7 games on the road
Montreal is 2-4 SU in its last 6 games when playing on the road against Washington
Washington is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games when playing at home against Montreal
Washington is 5-2 SU in its last 7 games
LOS ANGELES vs. VANCOUVER
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Los Angeles's last 5 games when playing on the road against Vancouver
Los Angeles is 0-5 SU in its last 5 games when playing on the road against Vancouver
Vancouver is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Vancouver's last 7 games
Eastern Conference Playoffs - First Round - Best of 7 - Game 2 - BUF 1-0
BOSTON at BUFFALO
BOSTON: 8-2 SU Away revenging a road loss
BUFFALO: 0-6 SU off a home division win
Eastern Conference Playoffs - First Round - Best of 7 - Game 2 - MON 1-0
MONTREAL at WASHINGTON
MONTREAL: 16-7 SU after having lost 3 of their last 4
WASHINGTON: 7-14 SU at home in the first round of the playoffs
Western Conference Playoffs - First Round - Best of 7 - Game 2 - VAN 1-0
LOS ANGELES at VANCOUVER
LOS ANGELES: 7-15 SU revenging a loss by 1 goal
VANCOUVER: 29-9 SU as a home favorite