The Boston Bruins and Washington Capitals play Game 1 of their Stanley Cup Playoffs first-round series Saturday. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. ET at Capital One Arena. Below, we analyze the Bruins-Capitals odds and lines, with NHL picks and predictions.
The Bruins wrapped up the regular season with a 2-1 loss in Washington Tuesday, although they had zero to play for with their seeding already locked in. These teams split the regular-season series with four wins apiece, though two of Boston’s were decided beyond regulation.
The Capitals finished the regular season with a pair of 2-1 wins, and they won four of their past five outings while the Under cashed in each of their last three games.
Bruins at Capitals: Odds, spread and lines
Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated at 8:15 a.m. ET.
- Money line: Bruins -130 (bet $130 to win $100) | Capitals +105 (bet $100 to win $105)
- Against the spread/ATS: Bruins -1.5 (+200) | Capitals +1.5 (-250)
- Over/Under: 5.5 (O: +105 | U: -125)
Bruins at Capitals: Projected starting goalies
Tuukka Rask (15-5-2, 2.28 GAA, .913 SV%, 2 SO) vs. Vitek Vanecek (21-10-4, 2.69 GAA, .908 SV%, 2 SO)
Rask finished the regular season with four victories across his final five starts. He went 1-0-2 with a 2.59 GAA and .905 SV% in three regular-season starts against the Capitals.
Vanecek is 3-1-0 with a 2.26 GAA and .910 SV% in May. The 25-year-old posted a 4-3-0 record with a 2.86 GAA and .905 SV% in seven regular-season starts against the Bruins this season.
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Bruins at Capitals: Odds, lines, predictions and picks
Prediction
Bruins 3, Capitals 2
Money line (ML)
The BRUINS (-130) are a sharp play in Game 1, even though it’s on the road. While the Capitals recently saw LW Alex Ovechkin return from a lower-body injury, they’re still without C Evgeny Kuznetsov and G Ilya Samsonov, and RW T.J. Oshie is also questionable due to a lower-body injury.
This will be the first time these teams have faced each other in the postseason since 2011-12 when Washington won Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinal in overtime.
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Against the spread (ATS)
The Capitals +1.5 (-250) will cost you two and a half times your potential return if you want a little insurance on the home team. It’s just not worth it, nor is it a good idea to back the Bruins -1.5 (+200), as tempting as it might be to try and double up.
AVOID, and just stick with the money line.
Over/Under (O/U)
UNDER 5.5 (-125) is the lean in Game 1, as these teams kick off what is likely to be a long series.
The Under cashed in four of the past five games on the road for the B’s, while the Under is 4-0 in the past four at home for the Caps.
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