Washington Capitals vs Montreal Canadiens Prediction, Odds and Picks for Today, 04/21/25

The Montreal Canadiens and Washington Capitals are getting ready to kick off Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. The Capitals come into this series as heavy favourites, and for good reason. They finished with the best record in their conference and were dominant on both ends of the puck. The Canadiens needed all 82 games to qualify, but in the end, they did just enough. These teams are meeting for the first time since 2010, when the Canadiens won the series 4-3.

There is no question that the Capitals are the better team on paper and that will be evident from puck drop. Not only can they create chances offensively, but they have been excellent all season in their own zone. The Canadiens were one of the lowest scoring teams this year and averaged just 25.5 shots per game. Playoff hockey may be more physical, but you still need to be able to generate scoring chances. Logan Thompson is questionable to start this game, but we’ll tackle this game as if he will play. We’ve seen some high-scoring games to start the playoffs, but with the Canadiens being unable to score goals five-on-five and on the power play, this matchup has the makings of a low-scoring affair, so we’ll take the Under here.

Under 6.0 available at the time of publishing. Playable at that number or better.