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NY Rangers vs. Washington Capitals Free Game 7 Pick | NHL Preview

Rangers vs Caps NHL Spread/Handicapping

For the second year in a row and the third time in five seasons the New York Rangers and the Washington Capitals will go to Game 7 in a playoff series.

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NY Rangers (26-19-1-4) at Washington Capitals (29-18-3-0)
When: 8:00 PM ET, Monday, May 13, 2013
Where: Verizon Center, Washington, District Of Columbia
Broadcast: TSN, RDS2, NBCSN, MSG, CSN-DC
Series tied 3-3
Caps vs. Rangers Betting Lines from betonline.com
Caps -130 O/U 5

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There is No Tomorrow For Someone – Capitals Host Rangers in Game 7

Last year it was the Rangers that won Game 7 at home to advance. If the trends in this series hold true, the Capitals should have the edge Monday night in a series in which the home team has won each and every game and has now won the last 10 post season meetings between the two clubs. One thing we do expect is a close game – the Caps have 12 goals in the series so far and the Rangers have 11 and 11 of the last 12 playoff games between the sides has been decided by one goal.

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Game 6 went as planned for the New York Rangers – they did what they needed to do to get this series back to the Nation’s Capital. They didn’t give up one power play against and Henrik Lundqvist stopped 28 shots for the shutout. But now the series moves back to Washington where the Rangers have failed to win in the postseason in five trips and into a building in which Henrik Lundqvist is 3-10 with a 2.00 goals-against average lifetime in the playoffs while losing 10 of the last 11. Lundqvist has been great in the series however – he has posted a 2.28 GAA thus far with a .927 save percentage.

Offense has been an issue for both teams so far in the series (the Rangers have averaged just 1.83 goals in the six games) but Game 7 could realistically be decided by special teams. The Rangers went 0-for-5 on the power play in Game 6 and fell to 2-for-26 in the series. Rik Nash and Brad Richard inexplicably have just one assist apiece – Derek Brassard has paced the Rangers attack with seven points in six games. The next best Ranger has just 4 points in the series.

The Capitals aren`t exactly lighting it up offensively so far either – just 2.00 goals per game thus far. Alex Ovechkin has been held off the score sheet four straight games and isn`t nearly the factor that the Capitals need him to be going into Game 7. Joel Ward has four points in his past four games but he is the only Washington forward that has been going for the Caps. [ad-4437448]

Goaltender Braden Holtby is no stranger to Game 7s in his young career – every playoff series he`s been in has gone the distance – he`s won one game 7 and he lost the other. He has won five straight over New York at home in the playoffs since a triple overtime defeat last year and has a 0.97 GAA and .962 save percentage in six lifetime postseason games versus the Rangers on home ice. He, like Lundqvist will definitely make it hard on the opposition. He has been even better than King Henrik statistically with a 1.91 GAA and .933 save percentage.

Betting Prediction

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A few trends to consider:
• NYR are 19-7 in their last 26 Mon. games.
• Under is 57-25-24 in NYR last 106 road games.
• Under is 36-17-6 in NYR last 59 Mon. games.
• Over is 10-1-2 in WAS last 13 Mon. games.
• WAS are 2-9 in their last 11 Mon. games.
• WAS are 16-5 in their last 21 home games.
• Under is 13-5-8 in the last 26 meetings.

The Rangers are 0-5 on the road in Game 7s in franchise history; The Capitals are 2-5 at home in Game 7s – not great records for either of these teams heading into the deciding game. But history is on the side of the home team between these two teams – the home team has won 10 straight playoff meetings between the two clubs. In all reality, the Rangers should have the edge because of Henrik Lundqvist but Braden Holtby neutralizes that advantage. The home dominance continues Monday night and the Rangers are sent packing in another typically tight, low scoring game.

Pick: Washington Capitals and the Under, as always is in play here

By DaveB

Dave B has been a Fantasy Football writer for us for 10 years. A couch potato wannabe, Dave’s insights have been read by 10’s of people for years. He hope’s for world peace + global relaxation. Enjoy and remember only smoke things that are completely natural.