Rangers vs. Capitals NHL Spread/Handicapping
Two of the hotter teams down the stretch of the NHL’s regular season meet in the Nation’s Capital Thursday night when the Washington Capitals entertain the New York Rangers in a playoff series for the fourth time in the last five years. Both teams heated up at precisely the right time in order to qualify for the postseason – the Rangers went 10-3-1 while the Caps went 11-1-1.
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#6 NY Rangers (26-18-0-4) at #3Washington Capitals (27-18-3-0)
When: 7:30 PM ET, Thursday, May 2, 2013
Where: Verizon Center, Washington, District Of Columbia
Broadcast: TSN, NBCSN, MSG, CSN-DC
Rangers vs. Caps Betting Lines from betonline.com
New York Rangers +1½ -285 +114 Ov 5 +100
Washington Capitals -1½ +240 -126 Un 5 -110
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Rangers Kick off Playoff Against Familiar Foe Washington
The Rangers picked up five of a possible six points in the season series against Washington. They won the first two games by a combined 6-2 and lost 3-2 in a shootout March 24 and then won the lone game at Verizon Center 4-1 on March 10.
The New York Rangers were touted as a Cup favorite before the season started but the team stumbles out of the gate and looked just average during the regular season. Their turnaround coincided with the NHL trade deadline when the Rangers traded star Marian Gaborik and brought in Derick Brassard, John Moore and Ryane Clowe. The team instantly gelled and became one of the most complete teams in the NHL. Need proof? They scored an average of 3.64 goals per game in April and gave up an average of just 1.92 goals per game in the month.
The offense that had struggled really came alive as mentioned led by Derek Stepan who finished April with eight goals and 11 helpers in 14 games to earn the NHL’s Third Star of the Week honor. He was incredible and suddenly becomes a player the Caps are going to absolutely have to pay attention to. Brad Richards also stepped up with 16 points in April along with Ryan Callahan who had 16 points and Rick Nash who had 14.
The Rangers will also enter Game 1 with the hottest goaltender in the NHL. Henrik Lundqvist started and finished all 14 games in April and posted a .934 save percentage and 1.76 goals-against average – incredible. [ad-4437448]
Somebody flicked the switch on the Washington Capitals – 11-1-1 down the stretch to get the third seed in the East. Like the Rangers they benefitted largely from improved play in both ends of the rink. The Caps scored a ton and more importantly shored up a weakish defense that saw them go 7-11-1 to start the season.
In the playoffs, a team’s best players have to be just that. If that’s the case then the Caps should be in good shape. Alex Ovechkin had 20 goals and 32 points in the last 19 games of the season, Nicklas Backstrom had 24 points over the same span and defenseman Mike Green has 19 points in the past 19 games, including seven in the past four – Washington’s best players are playing like their best players.
And then there’s Braden Holtby! He went 9-1 with a .937 save percentage and 2.16 goals-against average in April. He has a 1.77 GAA and .935 save percentage in 12 career games, including the postseason, against the Rangers.
Betting Prediction
A few trends to consider:
• Under is 9-3-1 in NYR last 13 Thu. games.
• Under is 54-25-24 in NYR last 103 road games.
• WAS are 7-1 in their last 8 home games.
• Under is 29-7-2 in WAS last 38 Thu. games.
• WAS are 8-2 in their last 10 games following a win.
• Under is 10-3-8 in the last 21 meetings.
This is probably the toughest series to predict – both teams are scorching hot and both have players stepping up at the right time. If the trends continue, special teams will likely be the difference in Game 1 – the Capitals finished the league’s best power play after they scored 44 goals on 164 opportunities for a 26.8 efficiency rating. Also I look at New York’s road record this season – 10-12-2 and it makes the Game 1 choice a little easier.
Pick: Washington Capitals -126
