The Washington Capitals and Boston Bruins meet Thursday in NHL action at the TD Garden. The Washington Capitals need a win after losing five of their last seven games. The Boston Bruins look for a win after winning eight of their last 10 games. 

The Washington Capitals are averaging 3.3 goals per game and are scoring on 15.8 percent of their power play opportunities. Alex Ovechkin leads Washington with 27 goals, Evgeny Kuznetsov has 27 assists and John Carlson has 93 shots on goal. Defensively, the Washington Capitals are allowing 2.7 goals per game and are killing 81.2 percent of their opponent’s power plays. Vitek Vanecek has given up 44 goals on 495 shots faced, and IIya Samsonov has allowed 55 goals on 566 shots.

The Boston Bruins are averaging 3.1 goals per game and are scoring on 23.8 percent of their power play opportunities. Brad Marchand leads Boston with 20 goals, Patrice Bergeron has 19 assists and David Pastrnak has 160 shots on goal. Defensively, the Boston Bruins are allowing 2.5 goals per game and are killing 83.9 percent of their opponent’s power plays. Linus Ullmark has given up 47 goals on 568 shots faced, and Jeremy Swayman has allowed 36 goals on 440 shots.

The Capitals are 1-5 in their last 6 games following a win and 2-5 in their last 7 overall. The Bruins are 5-2 in their last 7 home games and 5-1 in their last 6 overall. The under is 4-0 in Capitals last 4 road games. The over is 4-1-1 in Bruins last 6 overall. The Capitals are 1-4 in the last 5 meetings in Boston and 0-5 in the last 5 meetings.

The Washington Capitals are still attractive in the underdog role because you know it’s only a matter of time before they get back on track, but there’s no doubt they’re in rough form at the moment. The Caps have also struggled in past recent meetings against the Bruins. The Boston Bruins are playing their best hockey of the season, and they’ve won 23 of their last 32 games as a home favorite. I have to lay the reasonably cheap price with the Bruins here.