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The Ottawa Senators and the Pittsburgh Penguins kick off this season’s Eastern Conference Finals with Game 1 this Saturday night at PPG Paints Arena. Game time for the opener in this best-of-seven showdown is set for 7 p.m. (ET) and it will be available nationally on NBC.
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Ottawa at Pittsburgh Game Overview<br />
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Ottawa is a +235 underdog on the series price odds in this matchup and a heavy underdog for Game 1, but that should not faze a team that opened as a series underdog against both Boston and the New York Rangers despite having the home ice edge. The Senators will have to find a way to win on the road to gain the early edge in this series where they have gone 4-2 in six previous playoff games. The total went OVER or ended as a PUSH in five of those six games.
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The Senators have gotten a solid scoring effort from center Jean-Gabriel Pageau this postseason with seven goals including four in one game against the Rangers. Defenseman Erik Karlsson continues to lead the team in points in the playoffs with two goals and 11 assists after posting a team-high 71 points (17 goals and 54 assists) in the regular season. What Ottawa needs on Saturday night is a strong effort from Craig Anderson in goal after allowing an average of 2.49 goals in 12 previous playoff starts.
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The Penguins won it all last year so it is no big surprise that they come into this series as heavy -280 favorites to make a return trip to the Stanley Cup Finals. After making short work of Columbus in five games in the opening round, they had to go to the brink against Washington with a 2-0 victory in Game 7 as +151 road underdogs. Pittsburgh has gone 4-2 in six previous playoff games at home and the total has stayed UNDER in four of those contests.
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With the likes of Sidney Crosby, Phil Kessel and Evgeni Malkin it is easy to see why Pittsburgh was the highest scoring team in the NHL in the regular season with an average of 3.4 goals per game, but the Penguins have gotten a huge boost on offense from center Jake Guentzel in the playoffs with a team-high nine goals to go along with five assists. The Penguins were only able to score a combined total of six goals in the final three games against the Capitals, but they got a huge effort from Marc-Andre Fleury in goal when they needed it the most with an impressive Game 7 shutout.
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Ottawa at Pittsburgh Game Betting Trends<br />
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The Senators have won 11 of their last 16 games when playing a team from the Metro Division and the total has gone OVER or ended as a PUSH in seven of their last eight games overall.
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The Penguins have gone 22-7 in their last 29 home games when playing a team that has a winning record on the road. The total has gone OVER or ended as a PUSH in five of their last six games in this round of the playoffs.
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Head-to-head in this matchup, the home team has won 20 of the last 28 games including all three meetings this season. The total stayed UNDER in two of those last three games.
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