The Florida Panthers (1-2) and Washington Capitals (2-1) face off Monday in Game 4 of their 1st-round Eastern Conference playoff series. Puck drop from Capital One Arena is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET (TBS). Below, we look at the Panthers vs. Capitals odds and lines, and make our expert NHL picks, predictions and bets.
The Panthers laid an egg in Game 3 and find themselves in danger of going down 3-1 in the nation’s capital. Panthers stud LW Jonathan Huberdeau got them on the board less than 3 minutes into the game, but they were outscored 6-0 in the final 57 minutes of the game.
A glaring problem for Florida is that it’s now 0-for-9 on the power play in the series. It’ll need to tweak some things to get back in this series.
Capitals goaltender “Sammy” was born as G Ilya Samsonov but had the fans rally around him chanting his name en route to his first career playoff win. LW Alex Ovechkin and RW T.J. Oshie scored power-play tallies to lead the charge. All-Star RW Tom Wilson missed Game 3, and his status for Game 4 is in serious doubt after missing Sunday’s optional skate with a lower-body injury.
Panthers at Capitals odds and lines
- Money line: Panthers -180 (bet $180 to win $100) | Capitals +145 (bet $100 to win $145)
- Against the spread (ATS): Panthers -1.5 (+133) | Capitals +1.5 (-170)
- Over/Under (O/U): 6.5 (O: -140 | U: +112)
Panthers at Capitals projected goalies
Sergei Bobrovsky (39-7-3, 2.67 GAA, .913 SV%, 3 SO – regular season) vs. Ilya Samsonov (23-12-5, 3.02 GAA, .896 SV%, 3 SO – regular season)
Bobrovsky took a big step back in Game 3 after a strong 2 games at home. He allowed 5 goals on 30 shots. His numbers weren’t as good on the road during the regular season with a 2.81 GAA and .903 SV% while having a 2.57 GAA and .918 SV% at home.
It wouldn’t be a big surprise if they had him on a super short leash or went to G Spencer Knight for this game. He was better on the road with an 11-6-3 record, a 2.50 GAA and .913 SV% against an 8-3-0 record, 3.41 GAA and .899 SV% at home.
Samsonov is the guy now after stopping 29 of 30 shots in the Game 3 win. He was 1-1 against Florida this season with a whopping 11 goals allowed on 91 shots for an .879 SV%. While the numbers aren’t good, the confidence boost after falling behind 1-0 early in Game 3 and shutting the door can’t be ignored.
Money line
The Panthers will respond, but they entered these playoffs as the top seed you’d put the least amount of faith in because of their issues keeping teams off the scoreboard.
They can’t execute a power play while the Caps have scored on the PP in each game and are 4-for-12 overall. You have to be able to grind the tight games out in playoff hockey and they haven’t proven that yet LEAN CAPITALS (+145).
Against the spread
We hit on the Caps’ puck line in Game 3, and I expect this one to cash again. However, the value is on the money line, and the Capitals +1.5 (-170) are a little out of my price range PASS.
Over/Under
The Under missed in Game 3 because of a Caps goal with under a minute to go in a game that was already in hand. Some bad luck there, but the Under hit in the previous two.
The Panthers are going to throw the kitchen sink at the Caps offensively. However, Washington’s attack has been spread out so well with a crazy 10 players with a goal. They survive a thriller that might need OT LEAN OVER 6.5 (-140), but go lightly as this series has been pretty unpredictable as far as O/U goes.