Montreal Canadiens vs Washington Capitals Game 1 Prediction, Injuries & Odds (Apr. 21)

• The Washington Capitals begin their quest for the Stanley Cup against Montreal at Capital One Arena for Game 1 of their first-round series Monday.

• Capitals and superstar Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals are favored to win tonight and the series over the young Canadiens.

• Here is a look at the best Canadiens vs Capitals odds, my Game 1 prediction and last-minute injury updates

Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals (46-36 ATS) welcome Montreal (47-35 ATS) for Game 1 of their first-round series Monday night.

Montreal was the talk of the NHL the last two weeks, going on a late run to nip Columbus and grab the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Montreal’s reward is a date with the Capitals, who have had a magical season.

Does the magic shift to Montreal? How worried should Caps fans be? I have the full lowdown on this Game 1, with my prediction and preview of the best odds.

Canadiens vs Capitals Injuries

It wouldn’t be playoff hockey without some injury intrigue, and it’s all on the Capitals side.

The biggest issue is star goalie Logan Thompson, who got rocked by a shot to the mask on April 2 against Carolina. It’s called an upper-body injury. Cough, cough. Concussion. He should be OK for Game 1, but coach Spencer Carbery isn’t tipping his hand flat out, telling reporters over the weekend that they’d know when Game 1 starts.  

Washington will likely be without center Aliaksei Protas, who is dealing with a skate cut on the top of his left foot. He did some light skating on Sunday at practice.

For Montreal, the injury report is light; winger Rafael Harvey-Pinard has been out since mid-March. He’s been a rotational player at best.

Canadiens vs Capitals Game 1 Prediction

• Capitals -1.5 (+134 at FanDuel)

• Over 5.5 (-130 at FanDuel)

If you’re a Capitals fan, you have every right to be spooked. Washington hasn’t been sharp in the last 10 games of the season. The Ovechkin record was a peak, and then things kind of drifted off. It was barely noticed that in the game Ovi set the record in, the Caps played horribly and lost.

And now they get a really young Montreal team that played its tail off to make the playoffs. If momentum matters to you, then Montreal is your pick.

But Washington has a ridiculous edge in talent and experience. Even if Thompson doesn’t play for Washington in Game 1, Charlie Lindgren is a good option in net. He is 3-1 in his career against Montreal.

I think Montreal does win a game in this series, probably Game 3 when they return home, but not tonight. Washington should have no trouble.

Canadiens vs Capitals Odds

Odds courtesy of FanDuel as of Monday morning. Jump over the boards with our exclusive FanDuel promo.

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Washington is a 1.5-goal favorite everywhere I’ve looked, but there is so variety on the over/under figure. FanDuel has the total at 5.5, but BetMGM has it six and DraftKings has it 6.5.

Four of the last five meetings between the two teams have seen six or more goals scored.

I found the best moneyline on the Caps is BetMGM at -190, for Montreal it’s +165 at Bet365.

These two teams haven’t played since January 10, when Montreal won 3-2 in overtime. The Canadiens were right at .500 when the calendar flipped, but have been a great team since.

Montreal has covered the puck line in their last nine Monday road games, and Cole Caufield has scored a goal in each of Montreal’s last three games against the Caps.

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