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The Metro Division matchup between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Washington Capitals in the Eastern Conference Semifinals of the Stanley Cup Playoffs heads to Game 2 this Saturday night at the Verizon Center . The puck drops at 8 p.m. (ET) and the game will be broadcast nationally on NBC.
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Pittsburgh at Washington Game Overview<br />
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The Penguins drew first blood in this series with Thursday’s 3-2 victory in Game 1 as +121 road underdogs while the total stayed UNDER the closing 5.5-goal line. This was on the heels of their 4-1 series win against Columbus in the opening round. Pittsburgh’s potent offensive attack has now scored at least three goals in all six playoff games; however the total is evenly split 3-3.
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Following a scoreless first period on Thursday night, Sidney Crosby put the Penguins on the board first with a goal just 12 seconds into the second stanza. Pittsburgh’s top goal-scorer in the regular season (44) notched his second goal of night less than one minute later to give his team the 2-0 lead. After the Capitals battled back to tie the game eight minutes into the third period, Nick Bonino punched in the game winner a few minutes later to close out the scoring for the night. Another star of the night was goalie Marc-Andre Fleury after stopping 33 of the 35 shots he faced.
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Washington fell behind two games to one in its opening round series against Toronto before storming back with three straight wins by a combined score of 9-5. It averaged three goals a game in that six-game series with the total ending evenly split at 3-3. With Thursday’s loss, the Capitals have now dropped three of their last five games played on their home ice. The total has stayed UNDER in four of those contests.
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Alex Ovechkin was Washington’s top goal scorer in the regular season with 33 and he was able to cut Pittsburgh’s lead in half in Game 1 with his fourth goal of the playoffs late in the second period. Evgeny Kuznetsov knotted the game at two with his third period goal, but that was all the scoring that the Capitals could muster. Braden Holtby did not have his best night between the pipes after allowing three scores on just 21 shots on goal. His goals-against average this season stands at 2.07.
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Pittsburgh at Washington Game Betting Trends<br />
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The Penguins are now 5-1 in their last six games in the conference semifinal round of the playoffs and they are 12-4 in their last 16 games following a win. The total has gone OVER in five of their last seven road games.
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The Capitals are 1-5 in their last six games in this round of the playoffs, but they improve to 9-4 in their last 13 games played on Saturday. The total has stayed UNDER in seven of their last eight home games.
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Head-to-head in this divisional tilt, the home team is 8-1 in the last nine meetings and the total has gone OVER or ended as a PUSH in five of the last six meetings.
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