New York Islanders (41-25-10) at Washington Capitals (43-23-10)
NHL Hockey: Thursday, August 20, 2020 at 8:00 pm (Scotiabank Arena)
The Line: Washington Capitals -108 / New York Islanders -115 --- Over/Under: 5.5 Click Here for the Latest Odds
The New York Islanders and Washington Capitals meet Thursday in game five of the NHL East First Round at the Scotiabank Arena.
The New York Islanders have another chance to close out the series and advance to the next playoff round. The New York Islanders are averaging 3.25 goals per game and are scoring on 14.3 percent of their power play opportunities. Anthony Beauvillier leads New York with four goals, Josh Bailey has six assists and Anders Lee has 25 shots on goal. Defensively, the New York Islanders are allowing 1.88 goals per game and are killing 73.3 percent of their opponents power plays. Semyon Varlamov has given up 15 goals on 206 shots faced.
The Washington Capitals need a win here to save their season and force a game six on Saturday. The Washington Capitals are averaging 1.86 goals per game and are scoring on 19.2 percent of their power play opportunities. Alex Ovechkin leads Washington with four goals, John Carlson has six assists and Evgeny Kuznetsov has 19 shots on goal. Defensively, the Washington Capitals are allowing 2.71 goals per game and are killing 96.3 percent of their opponents power plays. Braden Holtby has given up 18 goals on 198 shots faced.
The Islanders are 9-1 in their last 10 Conference Quarterfinals games, 6-2 in their last 8 playoff games as an underdog and 3-11 in their last 14 games as an underdog. The Capitals are 0-5 in their last 5 games following a win, 0-5 in their last 5 games as a favorite and 2-6 in their last 8 overall. The over is 4-1-2 in Islanders last 7 overall. The under is 5-2-1 in Capitals last 8 overall. The Islanders are 6-0 in the last 6 meetings in Washington and 4-1 in the last 5 meetings.
The Washington Capitals are an experienced, championship roster, so they're not going to go down quietly. And the fact the Capitals were able to win game four after trailing 0-2 heading into the second period should give them an even bigger confidence boost. With that said, the New York Islanders have been the better team for almost all of this series and have been so consistent throughout the entire playoffs that you shouldn't jump off the bandwagon after one loss. The Islanders are still in great shape and have quietly been one of the more impressive teams in the bubble. I'll back the Islanders again.
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Randy’s Pick New York Islanders -115
AUTHOR: Randy Chambers
Mitch's Take...
