{"id":37771,"date":"2011-04-29T08:57:01","date_gmt":"2011-04-29T15:57:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.capperspicks.com\/blog\/?p=37771"},"modified":"2011-04-29T08:57:01","modified_gmt":"2011-04-29T15:57:01","slug":"playoff-odds-free-picks-lightning-vs-capitals-preview-29411","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/nhl\/playoff-odds-free-picks-lightning-vs-capitals-preview-29411\/","title":{"rendered":"Game 1 Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Washington Capitals NHL Picks | Preview"},"content":{"rendered":"

2011 NHL Hockey Free Predictions: Lightning vs Capitals<\/strong><\/h2>\n

It’s NHL hockey betting season once again.\u00a0Hockey Gambling<\/a> fans sure are getting their money\u2019s worth from the\u00a0free nhl picks<\/a> we give out here at Capperspicks.com. <\/p>\n

Bet On NHL Hockey Today at One of our top online sportsbooks \u2014> BOOKMAKER.COM<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n

NHL Playoff Betting: Lightning vs Capitals Game 1 Preview & Pick
\nDate: Friday, April 29, 2011
\nVenue: Verizon Center, Washington, D.C.
\nBroadcast: Versus, TSN
\nTampa Bay Lightning at Washington Capitals Betting Lines from Bookmaker.com
\nMoney Line: Lightning +155, Capitals -175
\nSpread: Capitals -1.5
\nOver\/Under: 5.5<\/p>\n

Most of us expect plenty of fireworks as the Lightning\/Capitals series starts tonight. After all, we have Alex Ovechkin, Alex Semin, Nicklas Backstrom, Steven Stamkos, Martin St. Louis and Vinny Lecavalier in the same series. But my big question for Game 1 is whether or not Washington shows up to the party tonight.<\/p>\n

Since around the start of the New Year and the end of the HBO series chronicling their struggles, the Capitals have matured into a much better hockey team. Sure, Ovechkin\u2019s 85 points were a career low, but the Caps became one of the league\u2019s best defensive teams and finally got some reliable goaltending. The encouraging trends continued into round one against the Rangers, as Washington held New York below two goals in three of five games. Michael Neuvirth had a .950 save percentage in the series.<\/p>\n

So the Caps have reason to feel confident entering Game 1 against a team they\u2019ve beaten 20 times in the last 26 meetings. But I worry they\u2019ll be caught with their pants down tonight.<\/p>\n

Whenever a team (a) wins a series early and has a week-long layoff and (b) opens a series at home, there\u2019s always the worry about complacency. Is it possible the Caps have lost their edge just a little bit? This is a team that had trouble with focus early in the season. \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Tampa Bay Lightning are in full-on battle mode. They fought back from the brink of elimination to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins in seven games, winning on the road. Martin St. Louis is firing on all cylinders and Steve Downie did a great job combining scoring touch with his agitating ways in the first round. It may take the Caps\u2019 defenders a game or two to figure out how to handle him.<\/p>\n

Most importantly, the Caps are facing a hot goalie. Dwayne Roloson was unbelievable in the first round against Pittsburgh, matching Neuvirth\u2019s .950 save percentage despite facing 108 shots more. He shut Washington out twice in the regular season and he should still be in a rhythm after playing two days ago.<\/p>\n

I like Washington to win the series \u2013 but not Game 1. I think the Caps will need a game to get their heads back in things.<\/p>\n

Lightning vs Capitals prediction: Lightning 4, Capitals 2<\/p>\n

Money Line: Lightning +155
\nSpread: Lightning +1.5
\nOver\/Under: OVER 5.5<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hey! I wanna tell you something!<\/strong> Our “IN-HOUSE” Sports capper Ray “The Razor” Monohan is on FIRE with his NHL Picks over the last 30 days! Wanna make some $$$$ betting on NHL games? Check out Ray’s plays today! The #1 NHL Capper In The World! \u2022 NHL Overall Plays (+2612) 93-55 L148 63%, \u2022 NHL Plays (+1757) 63-37 L100 63%<\/p>\n

Click HERE NOW To View Ray’s Handicapping Page Today! —–><\/a><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Its NHL playoff betting time once again. The Tampa Bay Lightning vs.Washington Capitals is on tap tonight. Both will be trying to pick up a win with the line opening with Washington as a -175 favorite in this matchup. The over\/under is set at 5.5, here is the handicapping preview\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":195,"featured_media":28103,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[28750,2993,17795,470,3779,12820,21458,2996,25243,48755,25244,25245,3801,36411,44227,10152,2284,895,13858,12823,11979,48772,25246,17998],"class_list":["post-37771","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nhl","tag-28750","tag-free-nhl-picks","tag-free-nhl-predictions","tag-free-pick","tag-game-1","tag-game-1-lines","tag-hockey-betting-picks","tag-hockey-predictions","tag-lightning-capitals-odds","tag-lightning-capitals-picks","tag-lightning-vs-capitals","tag-lightning-vs-capitals-free-pick","tag-nhl-free-predictions","tag-nhl-gambling-prediction","tag-nhl-gambling-predictions","tag-nhl-hockey-odds","tag-nhl-odds","tag-nhl-picks","tag-nhl-playoff-predictions","tag-nhl-playoffs","tag-round-2","tag-round-two-odds","tag-tampa-bay-lightning-vs-washington-capitals","tag-tampa-bay-vs-washington"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37771","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/195"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37771"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37771\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37778,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37771\/revisions\/37778"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28103"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}