Hurricanes vs. Capitals Prediction
The defending Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals opened their quest for a second straight title with a win two nights ago over the Carolina Hurricanes. Will Washington win again at home this afternoon in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals?
Game Snapshot
61 Carolina Hurricanes at 62 Washington Capitals
Saturday, April 13, 2019
Capital One Arena at 3PM ET
TV: NBC
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Public Betting Information
According to oddsmakers, the Capitals are a -160 favorite to win on the moneyline. The Hurricanes are a +140 underdog, while the over-under is set at 5.5 goals. As of Saturday morning, 72 percent of public bets are pouring in on host Washington. Check out our NHL Public Betting Page for the latest information.
Hurricanes doubled up in Game 1
Carolina allowed three first-period goals and could not recover Thursday night in a 4-2 Game 1 loss at Washington. The Capitals led 3-0 through two periods before Andrei Svechnikov scored 5:07 into the third period off assists from Lucas Wallmark and Dougie Hamilton to get on the board. Svechnikov added his second goal of his postseason career two-plus minutes later on assists by Wallmark and Justin Faulk to make the contest interesting again. But the Capitals put it away with an empty net goal in the final minute. Petr Mrazak surrendered three goals on 17 shots in the losing effort.
Caps ride fast start to win
Washington secured a 4-2 win Thursday night over Carolina to take Game 1 of the quarterfinals series. Nicklas Backstrom opened the scoring midway through the first period on assists by John Carlson and Brooks Orpik. Backstrom added his second goal of the game on the power play a few minutes later to make it 2-0 with assists going to Evgeny Kuznetsov and Carlson. Alex Ovechkin scored on the power play with 1:55 remaining in the first with assists courtesy of Tom Wilson and Carlson. After the Hurricanes staged a third-period comeback, Lars Eller put it away with 37 seconds left on an unassisted empty-net goal. Braden Holtby gave up two goals on 29 shots to earn the win.
NHL Betting Trends
Carolina
The Hurricanes are 8-0 in their last eight Saturday games. Carolina is 4-0 in its last four games playing on one day of rest.
Washington
The Capitals are 4-0 in their last four games as a favorite. Washington is 6-2 in its last eight games overall.
Prediction:
Carolina outplayed Washington in Game 1, but were done in by a couple power play goals and a rough first period that can partly be chocked up to jitters for a franchise playing in its first postseason game in a decade. The Capitals have a history of not making things easy on themselves and there might be some complacency here after the win. I’m going with Carolina to even this series up today.
NHL DAILY PREDICTION: CAROLINA HURRICANES +140