The Washington Capitals haven’t been able to deliver in the postseason as the favorite in recent years. Now we’ll get to see if they can do better as the underdog.
For the first time in what seems like a long time the Capitals are a playoff underdog in their opening series against the Bruins at +190 at Bodog.ca. The Bruins will begin the opening round as a -230 favorite in the series.
Despite sneaking into the playoffs as the No. 7 seed in the East the Capitals actually had a good season against the Bruins. In four games against the Bruins Washington was 3-1 and they won both games they played in Boston. [ 100% Deposit Bonus now! ]
The Capitals big guns are healthy heading into the playoffs with Nicklas Backstrom and Mike Green both ready to go and they’ll need both of them and Alex Ovechkin to put points on the board to score the upset.
It isn’t all good news for the Caps on the injury front as their goal tending situation is up in the air with both Tomas Vokoun and Michal Neuvirth hurt. That could force them to start Braden Holtby who has zero playoff experience.
The Bruins are a -180 favorite in Game 1 at William Hill and they finished off the regular season strong with seven wins in their last nine games. Boston’s keys to the series will likely be their shutdown defense led by behemoth Zdeno Chara and Goalie Tim Thomas.
Age may be catching up with Thomas who hasn’t been as good this season, but needs to find a second gear in the playoffs to start the Bruins on the road to a repeat.