| 02 February 2010
7:00 PM ET
Over/Under 6
The scorching hot Washington Capitals take on the ice cold Boston Bruins at the TD Banknorth Garden tonight in this Eastern Conference match-up.
The Capitals are positively on fire right now. They are playing the best hockey anybody has played this year over the last month in winning 10 in a row and 13 of their last 14. Folks, you just don’t get any hotter than that. Obviously, Washington boasts the most complete player in the entire NHL in Alexander Ovechkin. He scores, hits, intimidates, and makes everyone around him better. The Capitals are the top scoring team in the NHL averaging a gaudy 3.8 goals per game. Not surprisingly, they also boast the finest power play in the league converting at blistering 26.3% on the man advantage. How hot is the Caps offense? Consider this: Over the last 14 games, the Caps have not been held to less than 3 goals a single time. Even in their one loss over that span, they still managed to net 4 goals. You have to go back to January 2, 2010 to find the last time the Caps were held to less than 3 goals (a 2-1 loss in Los Angeles). Over the same 14 game span, the Caps have only been held to less than 4 goals twice. My friends, that is one offensive juggernaut! So does Washington have any weaknesses? Yes – I still don’t love their goaltending situation. Second year man, Simeon Varlamov is on the shelf with an injury and Jose Theodore is suspect in this scribe’s book. Washington is also not very strong on the PK which kills at only 80.5%, only good enough for #21 in the NHL.
These are two teams heading in opposite directions as the Bruins have lost 7 games in a row and 10 of their last 11. This is a team that was playing well but now their playoff hopes have dimmed with this recent skid. With the trading deadline fast approaching in early March, the Bruins need to decide if they’ll be buyers or sellers. If they can’t right the ship quickly, they could easily be on the outside looking in. While Washington is the highest scoring team in the league, Boston is the worst netting only 2.3 goals per game. The sole reason Boston wins any games at all is the smothering team defense concept embraced by Coach Claude Julien and capably executed by Zdeno Chara and top goalies Tim Thomas and Tuukka Rask.
So, if you tend to like the "unders", you really don’t have to worry about Boston scoring much. Essentially, this one comes down to Boston’s defense and goaltending vs. Washington’s powerful offense. The Caps are missing power play quarterback and top defenseman Mike Green for this one. I see Washington winning this game about 3-0. Boston is a great under team and with an inflated over/under of 6, a 4-2 or 5-1 game gets you "the push" instead of the loss. Given that extra goal, Boston's tough D, and Washington missing their best offensive defenseman in Green, I like the under tonight.
Fitzy’s Pick of the Night: Under (1 unit)
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