What Bettors Need to Know: Canadiens at Capitals
Halak attack
So much for playoff nerves.
After being criticized by Washington star Alex Ovechkin for looking nervous earlier in the series, Montreal goaltender Jaroslav Halak had ice water in his veins for Game 6 Monday night.
The young puckstopper turned away 54 shots for a 4-1 victory over the Capitals, coming up big in the third period. Halak faced 22 shots in the final frame and was clutch as Washington’s powerful offense pressed in the final minutes.
"Obviously it's great feeling, especially in the playoffs, winning a game like that," Halak told reporters following the win.
"No one even gave us a chance, but tonight, we stuck to the game plan, we played hard and it paid off at the end. It feels great, but there's another game ahead of us and we have to get ready."
Halak’s performance even gave some of Montreal’s most critical columnists a case of nostalgia, earning comparisons to Habs legend Patrick Roy. He has been brilliant in his last two appearances, allowing just two goals on 92 shots faced and is 12-0-1 when stopping at least 35 shot in a game this year.
Who turned out the lights?
The Capitals are quickly realizing that they will not be able to score themselves out of this first-round playoff series.
Washington, which averaged 3.8 goals during the regular season (most in the NHL), has managed to scored just twice in the past two games despite firing more than 90 shots on goal.
Even more telling is that the league’s top-ranked power play (25.2 percent) went 0-for-6 Monday and fell to an embarrassing 1-for-30 with the man advantage for the series.
But, while the situation would buckle most franchises, the Capitals insist they’re not frustrated with the lack of production from their once-mighty attack.
"There can't be any frustration in our game," Mike Knuble told CBC Sports.
"No matter what's happened with the power play, we did a lot good things on it and it will pay off. We all believe that. Keep getting a lot of pucks on net and it will pay off. We all believe that. We've scored a lot of goals and we know where goals are scored. I don't think we were playing on the outside, we were getting to the inside and we just had trouble finding rebounds tonight."
Ovechkin was held without a point Monday for the first time since Game 1 of the series and fellow sniper Alexander Semin may have to have his pulse checked after registering only one assist in the past six games.
First and foremost
The Canadiens know how to get off on the right foot.
Montreal opened the last two contests with fire in its skates, scoring two goals in the first period of both Game 5 and 6. For the series, the Habs have found the back of the net eight times in the opening frame – more than 44 percent of their total offense in the first round.
“We came out strong in the first period, we got the lead and that was huge for us,” Halak told the media. “We tied the series and we’ve got one more game to play, do or die. Still, we have nothing to lose. They have to win. We can just surprise.”
Forward Mike Michael Cammalleri set the tone with two goals in the first period Monday, scoring on the power play just over seven minutes into Game 6 then adding an even-strength marker a minute and a half later.
Cammalleri has recorded at least one point in every game this series and has 10 in the postseason – third most in the NHL playoffs. He’s riding a three-point night and a ton of momentum into Wednesday’s Game 7 showdown with the Capitals.
“Everybody picked them to win, and they’re supposed to win,” Cammalleri told reporters. “The pressure’s on them, but at the same time we don’t feel any moral victories.”
Caps on the Brink
By Judd Hall
When it comes to first round implosions with talent-laden teams, the Sharks have been the gold standard for the better part of a decade. That moniker might be turned over to the Capitals after their Game 7 against Montreal in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinal at 7:05 pm EDT on Versus.
Washington has all the talent in the world to make a run at the Stanley Cup. Alex Ovechkin is gaining more real estate on the sports networks with his nightly escapades that have yielded him 109 points (50 goals, 59 assists). Nicklas Backstrom had a career year with 101 points (33 G, 68 A) to go along with Alexander Semin and his 84 points (40 G, 44 A).
When you have a trio like that to go along with an offensive blue liner in Mike Green (19 G, 57 A), you should have the best offense in the game. The Caps did just that with 3.75 goals per game to lead the National Hockey League. And they were the best power play team in hockey, converting 25.2 percent of their chances.
The problem is that all of those stats are from the regular season. Sure, the Capitals are third in goals scored for the playoffs (21). But they’ve also given up 18 lamp lighters in six postseason contests to the Habs. Even more staggering is that they’ve found the back of the net once on 30 power play chances in this series. Two other teams in this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs have scored one or fewer power play goals, and both the Predators and Sabres have already been eliminated.
Of course, we could just say that Washington has ran into a hot goaltender. Better teams have been dispatched in the postseasons past because of insane play from the man between the pipes. The Canadiens have such a goalie on their side by the name of Jarolsav Halak.
Halak has had some bad outings in this series; losing 6-5 in OT in Game 2 and giving up three goals in 29 minutes to lose Game 3. Those performances are all forgotten about after Halak stopped 53 of the 54 shots on goal he saw on Monday night en route to Montreal’s 4-1 win as a $1.70 home pup.
Not to belittle what Halak has done, but he’s not getting the full effort out of Washington. Ovechkin (5 G, 4 A) and Backstrom (5 G, 4 A) have both put on some heroics for the Red Army, but Semin might as well be laying in a drainage ditch somewhere. The other Russian winger on the Caps has posted one helper in this series. I can’t say that Semin isn’t trying to score as he’s averaging six shots on goal. What stinks is that Semin must think that hitting Halak square in the chest converts into goals. I don’t have the heart to tell him.
Montreal’s other big contributor beside Halak has been Michael Cammalleri. The Habs’ left winger has lit the lamp five times in this series, twice in Game 6, and five assists as well. But to hear the Caps’ local broadcast duo, Cammalleri and Halak’s success has bee more luck than God given skill.
Most betting shops have installed the Capitals as heavy $3.00 home favorites (risk $300 to win $100) with a total of six. Now we have to wonder if it is worth taking the Canadiens for the upset here for a plus-280 return (risk $100 to win $280).
The Habs do have the recent history of road teams going 5-6 in Game 7s, with a 3-1 mark in the 2009 playoffs. But they have gone 5-2 in their last seven Game 7s since 1986.
As strong as those numbers are for Montreal, gamblers might want to sit back on take the healthy money line play. The Canadiens are just 4-3 as road pups coming off of a win as home underdogs over the last two seasons. On the puck line, however, the Habs are 6-1 in those same contests. You can take Halak’s side to lose by a goal for even money. The ‘under’ is 4-1-2 in those tests.
Washington has been in this position more than they’d like in the past two years, having played in three Game 7s and winning just one of them. All of those contests were also played at the Verizon Center. The franchise has had a horrible history in this spot as well, going 2-6 in eight career Game 7s.
The Caps do have one thing going for them in the fact that they are 5-1 in their last six games as home faves after losing as favorites on the road since the 2008-09 season. But they did fail to cover the puck line in two of the last three tilts in this situation.
vegasinsider.com
Montreal Canadiens vs. Washington Capitals
The Montreal Canadiens and the Washington Capitals will both be gunning for a victory on Wednesday when they meet at Verizon Center.
Jaroslav Halak made 53 saves to lead the Canadiens past the Capitals 4-1 in Game 6 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series on Monday night.
Montreal cashed as +175 home underdogs, while the game played UNDER the 6-goal total listed by oddsmakers.
Mike Cammalleri had two goals and an assist for the Canadiens, who evened the series at three games apiece in the upset.
Eric Fehr scored for Washington in a losing effort.
Team records:
Montreal: 39-33-10
Washington: 54-15-13
Montreal most recently:
When playing on Wednesday are 4-6
After playing Washington are 3-7
After a win are 6-4
Washington most recently:
When playing on Wednesday are 7-3
Before playing Calgary are 4-6
After playing Montreal are 5-5
After a loss are 6-4
A few trends to consider:
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Montreal's last 9 games on the road
Montreal is 3-6 SU in its last 9 games
Washington is 18-7 SU in its last 25 games at home
Washington is 8-4 SU in its last 12 games
MONTREAL (42-35-0-11, 95 pts.) at WASHINGTON (57-18-0-13, 127 pts.)
There are no Top Trends with records of significance that apply to this game.
Head-to-Head Series History
MONTREAL is 8-10 (+2.0 Units) against the spread versus WASHINGTON over the last 3 seasons
WASHINGTON is 10-8-0 straight up against MONTREAL over the last 3 seasons
9 of 16 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Over=+1.1 Units)
MONTREAL vs. WASHINGTON
Montreal is 3-6 SU in its last 9 games
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Montreal's last 9 games on the road
Washington is 8-4 SU in its last 12 games
Washington is 18-7 SU in its last 25 games at home
Eastern Conference Playoffs
First Round, Game Seven (Series Tied, 3-3)
MONTREAL at WASHINGTON
MONTREAL: 14-6 Under away off a home game
WASHINGTON: 11-1 SU off BB Unders