Breaking down the best value bets, futures to take and strategies to look out for ahead of the first round matchup between the Montreal Canadiens and Washington Capitals
The Montreal Canadiens scratched and clawed their way into the postseason only to be greeted by the top team in the East in the Washington Capitals. Unlike the Battle of Ontario or round four of the Oilers and Kings, this is a matchup we don't get to see too often.
Washington has met Montreal just once in the first round of the 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs, where the Habs overcame a 3-1 deficit to win the series in seven games.
This series could go seven games once again as the Caps have lost four of their final six games since Alex Ovechkin became the NHL's all-time leading scorer.
This series promises to be a thrilling showdown, headlined by the clash between the Canadiens’ rising Russian star, Ivan Demidov, and the greatest Russian hockey player of all time, Alex Ovechkin, leading the Capitals.
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All betting lines are from FanDuel Sportsbook and are subject to change. Hockey is a difficult sport to predict so please gamble responsibly.
Nick Suzuki - Series Leading Goal Scorer (+1000)
If you've kept up with the Habs hot streak since the Four Nations Face-Off, you would be aware of how prolific Montreal captain Nick Suzuki has been.
After being snubbed from Team Canada, the London, Ontario native has been red hot with the fourth-most points during that span with 37 through 26 games. His 15 goals during this time had his name among the likes of David Pastrnak, Artemi Panarin and Jason Robertson.
Suzuki finished the season with eight goals over his final ten games and could easily continue scoring against a slumping Capitals defence. Since Ovechkin broke Wayne Gretzky's record, Washington has struggled to find the same motivation going into every game especially on the defensive end.
The Capitals once-top three defence has now managed a 4.25 goals against average in their final 12 games and could struggle against a blazing hot Habs team.
Suzuki has the second-most career playoff points of anyone on Montreal with 11 goals and 12 assists for 23 points through 32 postseason games.
Habs +1.5 - Series Spread (+106) or Habs +2.5 (-250)
Washington has a notable history of struggling in the playoffs with a long standing rivalry with the Pittsburgh Penguins that they eventually overcame to win their franchise's first Stanley Cup in 2019.
However, since then they've found themselves in a similar problem as the Toronto Maple Leafs with severe troubles making it out of the first round. Since their Stanley Cup win, the Capitals haven't won a series in fact with five straight losses in the first round.
This bolds well for a Montreal team that looks to extend the history of a wild card team advancing. Since introducing the current playoff format, a wild card team has advanced to the second round in seven of the last ten seasons.
The Blues, Wild and Senators are all behind in their respective series with the Habs looking like the best available option.
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We must not forget that this Montreal team has more experience than we expect as they went to the Stanley Cup finals just a few years ago in 2021.
Suzuki and other young players gained valuable experience then and it should help propel them to keeping this series closer than people may expect.
I like the idea of adding the Habs series spread at +2.5 and parlaying it with the Carolina Hurricanes to down the New Jersey Devils in five or six games at -370 odds.
The Canes have won at least one playoff series in six straight seasons and when added with Montreal, gives us a very solid parlay with -129 odds.
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