Philadelphia Flyers vs. Washington Capitals Predictions, Picks and Preview – 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs – Eastern Conference First Round Game Two – April 16, 2016
The last time the Washington Capitals entered the Stanley Cup Playoffs as winners of the Presidents’ Trophy, they were eliminated in the first round by the Montreal Canadiens. The Capitals of course don’t want history repeating itself so they’ll look to go up 2-0 against the Philadelphia Flyers when they play the second game of the series this Saturday. Will the Caps do just that? Or will the Flyers return home for Game 3 with the series tied up?
Read on for more about Game 2 of this series. You can also check out our preview of Islanders vs. Panthers Game 2.
Playing sloppy and undisciplined won’t get the Flyers anywhere in the playoffs. The Flyers were toasted by Washington 2-0 on Thursday and they’ll now have to find a way to avoid a 0-2 series hole.
The Flyers had a series of miscues in the series opener as they gave the puck away nine times. They also racked up 35 penalty infraction minutes that allowed the Caps go on six power play attacks. Philadelphia needs to focus more on playing clean hockey moving forward instead of trying to get under the Capitals’ skin. Washington’s special teams are just too dangerous for the Flyers to dare. After all, the Flyers were just 20th in penalty killing in the regular season.
The top line of Jakub Voracek, Claude Giroux, and Wayne Simmonds combined for only six shots on goal as the possession often went in Washington’s way. Hopefully for them, they’ll come up with something to aid Steve Mason between the pipes. Mason was sensational in Game 1, letting just two shots get by him of the 31 he faced.
Philadelphia is 5-2 in its last seven games after a loss.
Betting on the Washington Capitals
Washington is just fine. After an unspectacular 1-2-2 record in their last five games, the Caps got baptized in these playoffs with a win over Philly.
The series opener win for the Caps showed how tremendous their special teams are. As implied earlier, the Caps’ special teams are capable of carrying the team past Philadelphia. John Carlson netted the first goal of the game with a power play score and the Caps’ penalty kill shut down all of the Flyers’ four chances on the man advantage.
The only thing missing for the Caps were production from Alex Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov, who combined for zero goals/assists. Nicklas Backstrom, however, scored a goal to breathe life into the Caps’ first unit.
Braden Holtby, meanwhile, radiated with his usual all-business aura, rejecting all of the Flyers’ 19 shots on goal. While that’s a light workload for Holtby, he remains a dependable goalie with or without much support from the blueline. Holtby faced the sixth most shots in the regular season yet managed to rank fifth in goals against average.
Washington is 5-3 in its last eight home games versus the Flyers.
