Capitals at Golden Knights 6/7/18 - NHL Picks & Predictions

On Thursday, the Washington Capitals visit the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 5 of the NHL Stanley Cup Finals best of seven series.

Washington holds a 3-1 lead in the series after defeating Vegas 6-2 Monday night in Game 4. Washington jumped out to a 3-0 lead after one period and increased that to 4-0 after two periods and never looked back. The Golden Knights now face their first elimination game of the Cup Finals with their backs squarely against the wall. Evgeny Kuznetsov had four assists in Game 4, to lead the Capitals in scoring. First period goals by Tom Wilson, T.J. Oshie and Devante Smith-Pelly and 28 saves by goalie Braden Holtby helped put the Capitals on the verge of their first Stanley Cup title. A missed open net by Golden Knights’ James Neal likely changed the game early on, as they could have made the first period different. Vegas was just missing all game, as it rang several shots of the goal posts, while Washington was able to seize on each opportunity it had. During the postseason, Alex Ovechkin leads the Capitals in goals with 14. Evgeny Kuznetsov leads in assists with 19 and points with 31. Braden Holtby in 22 appearances in net for the Capitals this postseason is 15-7 with a goal’s against of 2.13 and a save percentage of .923. During the regular season, Washington was 9th in goals scored per game at 3.1, 16th in goals against per game at 2.9, 7th in power play percentage at 22.5, and 15th in penalty kill percentage at 80.3.

During the postseason, Jonathan Marchessault is leading Vegas in goals scored with eight. Reilly Smith leads in assists with 15 and in points with 20. In goal, Marc-Andre Fleury is 13-6 with a goals against of 2.15 and a save percentage of .922 after 19 postseason games. During the regular season, Vegas was 5th in goals scored per game at 3.3, 8th in goals against per game at 2.7, 11th in power play percentage at 21.4, and 10th in penalty kill percentage at 81.4.