Columbus Blue Jackets vs. Washington Capitals Series Odds
Washington Capitals (-135)
Columbus Blue Jackets (+115)
The Columbus Blue Jackets have avoided the Pittsburgh Penguins, but they’ll get the Metropolitan Division champion Washington Capitals, perhaps entering that series a little bit more confident.
Even though Washington had 105 points and played as well as anybody down the stretch, there isn’t a lot of chatter about the Capitals. Maybe it has something to do with the endless playoff disappointments for the franchise.
The Toronto Maple Leafs took a Capitals team that had the most points in the NHL last season to the brink in the first round. All six games were decided by one goal and five went to overtime. So, why can’t the Blue Jackets pull the first round upset? After all, it’s hard to find a more motivated team in these playoffs, considering Columbus has never won a playoff series in franchise history. Washington won three of the four regular season meetings, three of which were played in the month of February.
Washington Capitals (-135)
Maybe it is better for the Washington Capitals to have lower expectations. After all, this is a team that has eight division titles since the 2007-08 season and hasn’t even been to the Eastern Conference Finals. The Capitals have lost in the second round each of the last three seasons. Running into Pittsburgh certainly doesn’t help, but getting over the hump just hasn’t been a thing. Offensively, Washington hasn’t been as dominant this season, as they narrowly finished in the top 10 in goal scoring. Alex Ovechkin was double and triple-shifted against New Jersey in hopes of getting him another 50-goal season, but he had to settle for 49. Nobody else had more than 27. The Capitals did get a lot of scoring up and down the lineup, with 11 guys in double digits.
Columbus Blue Jackets (+115)
For all of the questions the Blue Jackets have entering this series, goaltender is not one of them. Sergei Bobrovsky is the guy for John Tortorella. The man known simply as “Bob” posted a 2.42 GAA and a .921 SV% in his 3900+ minutes this season. But, Bobrovsky was terrible in the series against Pittsburgh last season and was also bad in the series against Pittsburgh back in 2014. He has some playoff demons to overcome and he better overcome them quickly because the Blue Jackets spent most of the season scuffling offensively. They did get on track late in the year, as Cam Atkinson got healthy and Artemi Panarin simply took over, but this is a team whose second-leading scorer is defenseman Seth Jones.
Pick & Prediction (Washington Capitals in 6 games) Washington Capitals (-135)
Columbus stacks up better with Washington than they would have with Pittsburgh for the second straight season, but Washington’s offensive depth should eventually win out in this series. Washington’s lack of defensive depth shouldn’t show up here, since Columbus doesn’t have a ton of offense on the bottom lines and doesn’t have a potent power play. It will be a factor down the line, but the Washington Capitals should advance. This line opened Washington -125, so they are the preferred side out of the gate on early betting action.
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