New York Rangers vs. Washington Capitals Predictions, Picks and Preview – 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Eastern Conference Second Round Game 4 – May 6, 2015
The Washington Capitals are proving to be a handful, putting President’s Trophy winner New York Rangers in a 2-1 series hole. But the Rangers were the best road team in the league in the regular season, and should still put up quite a fight. Can the Rangers even things up before heading back to New York for Game 5? Read on for everything you need to know heading into this game.
New York Rangers vs. Washington Capitals Game 4 Preview
Series Scores and Schedule
Game 1 – Washington Capitals 2 at New York Rangers 1
Game 2 – Washington Capitals 2 at New York Rangers 3
Game 3 – New York Rangers 0 at Washington Capitals 1
Game 4 – May 6, 7:30 PM ET – New York Rangers at Washington Capitals – view all NHL lines
Game 5 – May 8, 7:00 PM ET – Washington Capitals at New York Rangers
Game 6* – May 10, TBD – New York Rangers at Washington Capitals
Game 7* – May 12, TBD – Washington Capitals at New York Rangers
*If necessary
Betting on the New York Rangers
The New York Rangers may be in a 2-1 hole, but they’ve battled adversity before. New York eliminated the Capitals in the first round of the 2013 playoffs after going down two games to one after three games.
[sc:NHL240 ]New York dominated in the opening minutes of Game 3. It took more than six minutes for the Capitals to take their first shot on goal. The Rangers wound up outshooting Washington 11-6 in a scoreless first period and 30-22 in the game. But they were shutout in a 1-0 loss.
For the Rangers to even out the series, they’ll need another fast start. They scored two goals in the first period of Game 2 leading to a 3-2 victory. Chris Kreider scored just 38 seconds into the contest. Dan Boyle and Derick Brassard also scored. The Rangers are 4-1 this postseason when scoring the first goal of the game.
But New York needs leading regular-season goal-scorer Rick Nash (42) to find his scoring touch in the playoffs. Nash is yet to find the back of the net but has recorded 14 shots on goal in the series. He had three goals in three regular-season games against the Capitals.
If the Rangers’ offense once again fails to score enough goals, they can still be kept in the game through solid goaltending. Henrik Lundqvist is just 1-2 against Washington in the series, but has a 1.68 GAA and .940 save percentage thus far. He stopped 21 of 22 shots in the Game 3 loss.
The Rangers have won four of their last six games at Washington.
Betting on the Washington Capitals
Washington has a hero in Braden Holtby. The Caps goalie stopped all 30 shots from the Rangers, including a one-on-one against New York’s Martin St. Louis, for his second career playoff shutout in Game 3. Holtby is now 5-4 with a 1.54 GAA and .949 save percentage in this year’s playoffs.
The Caps also have to thank Jay Beagle for netting the game-winner. Beagle collected a rebound of his own shot, and went for a wraparound. The shot ricocheted off New York defenseman Keith Yandle and Lundqvist’s skate into the net. But it was just Beagle’s third career playoff goal. He scored just 10 times in the regular season.
With that said, Alex Ovechkin remains Washington’s go-to goal scorer. He was the league’s leading scorer in the regular season with 53 goals. Ovechkin was left without a goal for the first time in this series in Game 3. But expect him to lead the Caps after scoring five of their 10 regular season goals against the Rangers.
Should the Rangers find a way to shut out Ovechkin again, the Caps still have a couple of options in Joel Ward and Evgeny Kuznetzov. They are the two other Capitals to have scored against New York in the playoffs.
The total has gone under in four of the last five meetings at Washington.
Writer’s Prediction
The Rangers even the series with a 2-1 victory. Create a betting account now and pave your own way toward the Stanley Cup.
