Washington Capitals vs. Philadelphia Flyers Predictions, Picks and Preview – 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs – Eastern Conference First Round Game Three – April 18, 2016

The Washington Capitals are dominating the Philadelphia Flyers so far in their first round series. The Flyers have a golden opportunity to cut Washington’s series lead in half, though, when they host the Caps at Wells Fargo Center later tonight. Read on for more about Game 3 of this series. You can also check out our preview of Kings vs. Sharks.

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Washington Capitals vs. Philadelphia Flyers Game 3 Preview

Where: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia

When: Monday, April 18, 2016 7:00 PM ET

Line: Washington Capitals (-150) vs. Philadelphia Flyers (+130); total: 5.0 – view all NHL lines

TV Broadcast: NBCSN, CSNB

Betting on the Washington Capitals

With the way they’ve played hockey all season long, it seems that the Capitals don’t need to be lucky. But they did at least require a little bit of that playoff magic during one play in their 4-1 Game 2 win on Saturday over Philadelphia. That was when Jason Chimera managed to score on a 101-foot attempt in the second period.

Luck aside, it was the Caps’ special teams and Braden Holtby which towed the team to victory. The Caps went 2-for-2 on the power play, with John Carlson and Alex Ovechkin scoring a goal each on the man advantage. Washington’s special teams will look to continue preying on the Flyers’ seemingly overmatched penalty kill that ranked just 20^th back in the regular season with an 80.5-percent success rate. Conversely, the Caps were fifth in power play percentage with a 21.9 clip.

Unlike in the series opener, Holtby had a busy night between the pipes on Saturday. He was up for the challenge though, as he rejected 41 of the Flyers’ 42 shots. Throughout the first two games of the series, Holtby has allowed just one goal on 63 shots.

Washington is 4-2 in its last six road games overall.

Betting on the Philadelphia Flyers

The Flyers got a ton of touches in Game 2, but they just can’t beat Holtby. Nevertheless, the Flyers must be encouraged by their effective forechecking on Saturday that enabled them to get off 42 shots against Washington’s 23. Philly only had 19 shots in Game 1.

Still, the Flyers need to see results. In other words, they have to start scoring goals more consistently, as they’ve netted just a single score in two games. The team’s regular season leading scorer, Wayne Simmonds, got more involved in Game 2 with his six shots after taking just one in the series opener, so that’s a nice start. Claude Giroux, however, remains missing, as he’s failed to register a point in the first two games in this series.

The pressure gets bigger for Philadelphia’s offense considering Sean Couturier’s looming absence. The center was injured in Game 2 after a huge Ovechkin hit and will miss the rest of the series. His spot in the second line might go to Scott Laughton moving forward. Laughton, who had seven goals and 14 assists in the regular season, now has to prove his worth as the Flyers’ 2012 first-round pick.

Goalie Steve Mason also needs to show that he’s ready to come up big after a disastrous Game 2 performance that saw him allow four goals. Don’t expect head coach Dave Hakstol to call on back up Michal Neuvirth to step in, though. After all, the Flyers are 8-2 in Mason’s last 10 home starts. In addition, Mason finished the regular season with a 14-7-6 record to go with a 2.23 GAA and .926 SV% in 28 home starts.

Writer’s Prediction

Washington (-150) wins, 3-1.

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