The 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs get underway on Saturday with the Washington Capitals (36-15-5) hosting the Boston Bruins (37-16-3). The two split eight games during the regular season and meet in the playoffs for the first time since 2012.
Bookmaker Bovada is predicting a cagey start to Game 1 with the odds at +370 for the opening frame to end up as the highest-scoring one. The odds are at +240 for the second period to see the most scoring and at +250 for the third period to produce the most goals.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: May 14th, 7:00 P.M. (EST)
Both are blessed with immense attacking talent, so the goals should start flowing sooner rather than later. The Bruins have the third-best scorer in the league in Brad Marchand while Washington is led by captain Alex Ovechkin who moved up to the sixth spot on the league’s all-time goal-scoring list this season.
Ovechkin lost a chance to get into the top-five due to a lower-body injury suffered late in the regular season, but he’s fully healthy for the playoffs and will look to improve his spot on the all-time playoffs goals list as well. The Great Eight currently finds himself in 18th place with 69 goals.
Washington’s offense has been on fire throughout the year producing 3.36 goals per game, and Ovechkin was one of four players on the team to produce at least 40 points.
Defensively, the Capitals were mediocre with a 2.88 goals-against average and it’s an area they definitely need to improve upon to make a deep postseason run.
Boston has always been a stingy team and Bruce Cassidy’s side was tied for the fourth-best defensive record this year during the regular season with a 2.39 goals-against average. They were rock-solid at the back despite No. 1 netminder Tuukka Rask featuring in only 25 of 56 games.
Led by Marchand, the B’s scored 2.93 goals a night and they produced the third-most shots per game (33.3). It will be a huge test for Washington’s inexperienced goalies Vitek Vanecek and Ilya Samsonov if the Bruins manage to shoot at the same rate.
It’s a very special matchup for former Bruins captain Zdeno Chara who spent 14 years in Boston before signing for the Capitals as a free agent during the offseason. He’ll certainly have a chip on his shoulder in the matchup and could become the X-factor in the series.
