The New York Rangers and Washington Capitals are both set for their second consecutive Game 7. It’s a climactic finish to the second round of the playoffs, which has otherwise been rather anticlimactic with three of the other four series finishing in five games or fewer.
The Capitals and Rangers have alternated wins and losses for five straight games now, as the margins between the teams have been razor-thin. Game 7 will be the same as every other game in the series, which has basically been a coin flip. Keep that in mind before making your picks.
The Washington Capitals can win because…
They’ve had the Rangers on their heels the entire series.
Let’s face it: the Caps three wins have been straight up, but the Rangers have needed overtime in two of their wins. In Game 5, the Rangers needed a miracle to tie the game with six seconds left and then win it in overtime.
Game 6 was a sight that’s going to make a lot of Rangers fans nervous. The Caps scored early, outplayed the Rangers and controlled the game for the most part. The Rangers – again – didn’t have very many good scoring chances, and all of their shots came from the outside. As Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist said post-game, the Rangers weren’t even close until the last 20 seconds of the game.
Washington will simply continue to do what they do and, realistically, they could have ended this series by now had they scored an overtime goal or not blown a late lead.
In five-on-five situations, the Capitals are getting the scoring chances and, as long as they stay out of the box and stick to their game, they’ll have a great chance to win the series. The Rangers have scored just nine goals in the last five games and that’s not enough to get the job done.
The New York Rangers can win because…
They’ve been through this before. The Rangers were pushed to the brink by the Ottawa Senators in Round 1, playing a very similar series, but they managed to survive with an excellent effort in Game 7. Now they just have to do it again.
It seems like scoring first is the key to this series as both teams would rather play a defensive style. If the Rangers can get that first goal, they can go into defensive mode and force Washington to come out of their shell more often, which means they’ll be taking more chances. Once that happens, the Rangers should have a chance to pounce.
Washington has played well this series but they’ve been aided by a good power play. The Caps have now tallied a power play goal in three straight games and four of the last five. If the Rangers can shut that off, they should be able to keep Washington to just one goal or so. Henrik Lundqvist has allowed two goals or fewer in nine of the 13 playoff games this season, so he’s likely to keep tight wraps on the Capitals in Game 7.
The Rangers will have to use home-ice advantage and find a way to get the job done. That’s what they’ve done all season, even though it’s never looked pretty.
Outlook & NHL betting prediction:
Once again, laying -140 with Rangers doesn’t make sense. This game is going to be a coin flip, and the Capitals are going to feel very confident. Not only are they coming off a commanding win, they also should have won Game 5 in New York. I'm going to have disagree with fellow capper David Schwab and suggest that you take the Caps and the UNDER.
NHL Picks: Capitals & UNDER ---&+++
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