The Eastern Conference Finals are back on Monday as the Tampa Bay Lightning once again will face the Washington Capitals at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. in game six of their best of seven series. Tampa Bay was the better team in the last game as they won with a score of 3-2 which gave them a 3-2 lead in the series.
Tampa Bay Lightning Form
The Tampa Bay Lightning did not have a good start in the finals as they went 2-0 down after the first two games. However, they turned the tide in the series and now they have a 3-2 lead over the Capitals. Should the Bolts win this game, they will secure their place in the Stanley Cup finals. Tampa Bay will surely rely on the in-form Ondrej Palat, who scored his 6th goal of the playoffs in the fourth game in the series against the Caps. Also, Andrei Vasilevskiy is in a solid form as he was able to stop 28 of the 30 shots that he faced in the fourth game of the series. The Lightning away record so far is 30-17 and they have averaged 3.53 goals per game and have allowed 2.72 goals per game in those games.
On the offensive side of their game, the Tampa Bay is the 4th best team in the league in scoring an average of 3.33 goals per game, converting on 30.1% of their chances. At the defensive side of the game, they have some solid stats as they are 5th in goals conceded, allowing an average of 2.73 goals per game, allowing the opposing teams to convert on 24.5% of their chances.
Washington Capitals Form
The Washington Capitals are in serious trouble as they are facing elimination if they lose this game. Their form is not so good and they lost three games in a row against the Bolts. To make things worse, it seems that they have problems with the offence as they only scored 2 goals in each of those games. The Caps will surely rely on their Russian duo Evgeny Kuznetsov and Alex Ovechkin as each of them has scored 11 goals in the playoffs so far. The Capitals home record this season stands at 31-18 and they have averaged 3.33 goals per game and have allowed 2.65 goals per game in those games.
On the offensive side of the game, the Capitals are the 2nd best team in the league in scoring as their record stand at 3.47 goals per game, converting on 28.6% of their chances. At the defensive part of their game, during the playoffs, they have some average stats which placed them on the 6th spot in goals allowed, conceding an average of 2.76 goals per game, allowing teams to convert on 25.9% of their chances.
The Tampa Bay Lightning made a great comeback in this series and now they are just one step away from reaching the Stanley Cup Finals. However, I expect that the Capitals will get their offensive firepower back on track to take this series into game seven. They are a very strong team at home, and despite the recent loses – I think that they will be the dominant team. Despite their recent struggles, the Caps still have the in-form Evgeny Kuznetsov and Alex Ovechkin and they can surely put some goals in the Bolts net. Go for the Capitals in this one.
My Free Pick & Prediction for Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Washington Capitals on 5/20/2018 is: Take the Washington Capitals -130 (money line bet)
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