Ovechkin Wants the Cup, Capitals Favored at the Sportsbook. They have one of the best players in the league in Alex Ovechkin and he really wants to win the title this season. The Capitals are heavily favored in sportsbook online odds to dispatch of the Montreal Canadians in their first-round series.
Sportsbook odds list the Capitals as the overall favorite to win the Cup. Washington couldn’t get it done last year but they seem ready to do it this time around. “Experience-wise, it’s another year. They’ve seen it happen,” Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau said, “They knew what it was like getting close and then losing to the eventual Stanley Cup champions, and it didn’t sit well with anybody I don’t think. But there’s 15 other teams trying for that, too,” he said. “They’re ready to play. Montreal will play really good and we’ll play really good.”
Washington owner Ted Leonsis knows the team can do it. “I’m excited and I’m hopeful, but I’m also very sanguine as to how difficult this process is,” Leonsis said, “This is a grind.” The Capitals lost two years ago in Game 7 to the Philadelphia Flyers as they got some playoff experience. Last year they beat the New York Rangers after trailing 3-1 in the series but they lost in seven games in sportsbook odds to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins. “I think everybody who plays hockey, especially in the playoffs, wants to win [the Stanley Cup]. I want to win. I don’t want to prove anything in particular, I just want to win. If I don’t play well and the team wins, I don’t care what people say because I just want to win. Ovechkin said.
Washington was so good this sportsbook NHL season that they won their own division by 38 points. They were 18 points better than any other team in the Eastern Conference. They were eight points better than San Jose who had the best record in the Western Conference. Sportsbook online stats indicated that the Capitals were so good that they were the first team since 2005-06 to score more than 300 goals and finish 46 goals better than the next best team. Ovechkin is the team leader and he will probably win the Hart Trophy for league MVP. Mike Green led all defensemen in points and he could win the Norris Trophy. Everything is in place for the Capitals to win it all and they are the favorite in NHL odds at the sportsbook to do just that.