Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Washington Capitals Game 2 Preview
Where: Verizon Center, Washington, D.C.
When: Saturday, April 15, 2017, 7:00 PM ET
Line: Toronto Maple Leafs (+205) at Washington Capitals (-245); total: 5.5 – view all NHL lines
TV Broadcast: NBCS
NHL News and Predictions
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Betting on the Toronto Maple Leafs (0-1)
The young Toronto Maple Leafs put up one heck of a fight on Thursday, but still ultimately fell short of a victory in Game 1 with the 3-2 overtime loss to the top-seeded Washington Capitals.
What’s promising for this Toronto club is that its played with a ton of urgency. The Leafs jumped on the Caps early with two goals in the first period behind 15 shots as rookie Mitch Marner scored his first-ever playoff goal.
However, they soon ran out of energy coming off the blazing start and their defense payed for it. Toronto finished with just three takeaways in Game 1 as opposed to Washington’s 12, clearly showing signs of the team’s inexperience in big games.
While goalie Frederik Andersen made a whopping 41 saves in the series opener, having allowed a total of 44 Capitals shots is just too much for the netminder to handle all over again. Having said that, leading Calder Trophy candidate Auston Matthews must provide the spark on offense. Matthews, who led all rookies with 40 goals in the regular season, was held to just one shot-on-goal on Thursday.
Betting on the Washington Capitals (1-0)
It was quite a heart-pounding affair in Game 1 for the Washington Capitals, but their rich talent evidently shone when it mattered most to pick up the 1-0 series lead.
Toronto native Tom Wilson scored the game-winning goal in overtime for Washington. It was Wilson’s first-career game-winner and playoff goal at the same time, as he’s now relishing the villainous role of sorts in going up against his very own hometown’s beloved Leafs. But the bigger baddie for the Caps is really Justin Williams, who scored the first two goals for his team to tie the contest and force the extra period.
Williams, who won the 2014 Conn Smythe Trophy as a member of the Kings, is just one of Washington’s decorated veterans that had a fantastic performance in Game 1. Star goalie Braden Holtby was the other, with the reigning Vezina Trophy winner making 35 saves to extend his franchise record of 23 playoff wins, and to further improve his lifetime postseason goals-against average to 1.87 and save percentage to a sweet tune of .938 across 47 playoff appearances.
We haven’t even seen the best out of Washington’s other superstars in Alex Ovechkin and T.J. Oshie (just a combined two shots-on-goal in the opening game), but those two could very well erupt this Saturday considering that the Caps have now won eight-straight contests in D.C. against the Maple Leafs.
Writer’s Prediction
The Capitals (-245) take a commanding 2-0 series lead with a 4-2 victory.
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