Habs-Capitals Series Preview.

 1M Washington vs Montreal 2WC

We are back with another Playoff preview here on the ETEH Blog, so today we are looking at the 4th Series that was locked in the Eastern Conference playoff picture, as we're going to be looking at the East winner which most people  were not expecting in Washington who had a bounce back year after being WC2 last year and they take on the young Upstart Habs who almost no one was saying will make it to the playoffs and just beat out Detroit, CBJ and NYR to eek out the last wildcard spot in the East.

History of Rivalry Between teams in playoffs:

Now if you look at the history of these two teams playing in the playoffs it's quite interesting as these two franchises have only meet once before in the Stanley Cup Playoffs and it was all the way back in 2010 as the Habs would fall behind 3-1 in that series before the rallied back with 3 straight victories and took down the Capitals in 7 games, so the Habs have won the only previous meeting between the two teams and will be looking to remain undefeated against the Capitals in the playoffs, while the Caps would like to level the playoff series at 1 apiece so we will have to see who wins this series. 

Season Series Record: 

Washington 2-0-1 12-8+4

Montreal 1-2-0 8-12-4

Ron Chenoy Imagn Images

Each teams X-Factors: Suzuki vs Ovechkin

now when it comes to the X-Factors for both teams in this series I would have to say the Captains are my X-Factors for both for both of these as the best goal scorer in team history in Ovechkin and the young Canadiens Captain Suzuki are the two key players in this series, now when it comes to the Capitals as they have done better to get well balenced scoring but the offense still runs through Ovechkin so if the Caps are to have any success then Ovechkin has to get going, where in Montreal Suzuki was the first Hab player in nearly 20 years to hit 80 and has been the offensive driver this year, so if the Habs want to have any success this year then they will need to have Suzuki be very productive this series.

Which teams are best at 3 Positions:

Offense: on the offensive side of the puck, these teams stack up pretty well against each other and I feel there isn't very much of a advantage either way as the Habs have a stellar offensive group and the Capitals had one of the best forward groups in the NHL this year so it is really hard for me to pick a team to give a advantage to but I will say that the Habs have a narrow offensive edge due to their youth and I will say have a slight lead on the teams offenses.

Defence: now on the defensive side I think there is a clear cut leader as the Capitals who added Roy and Chychrun this offseason have been great adds and made that blueline so lethal for the Caps and while the Habs do have some solid young talent in Guhle, Hutson, Struble etc, they are not experienced enough and still have hiccups defensively so I am giving the Caps the defensive edge.

Steve Roberts Imagn Images

Goaltending: meanwhile in net both teams have pretty decent goaltending as Montembeault and Thompson have both been great this year for the two respective teams, but with Thompson's season he has had and having some playoff experience from last year, I will give the Caps the edge in net but only slight with Thompson.

Biggest on Ice Matchup: Habs blueline vs Caps offense

now the biggest on ice matchup in my opinion in this series has to be how the Habs young blueline stands up against the Caps lethal offensive unit. Now Washington has had a lethal offense all year long and it has been one of the best lead by Ovi but I do wonder how the young and rather inexperienced  blueline of the Habs will fair against that forward group as the Habs have some really solid offensive weapons on the blueline, but don't have a solid defensive aspects to their game, so I feel the winner of this matchup will have a great shot to wind up taking the series.

Predictions:

Now when it comes to my predictions for this series, I feel this series will go longer then most think as I feel that the Habs won't be a push over and will actually give the Caps problems as I feel the youth in Montreal will help them a lot and the offensive potential this team has could allow them to go toe to toe with the Caps and much to a lot of people's surprise, I am going to say the Habs win in six, I feel they have the potential to surprise some teams and I think having that young group will surprisingly lead the Habs to round 2 of the playoffs.