My selection is on Washington over New York at 12 noon et on Sunday.

The Capitals have been in each of the first two games of this series and I'm confident they make a statement with a big effort on Sunday afternoon. Give credit to the Isles for grabbing a 2-0 series lead but now things get tough as they look to take a stranglehold. Last year the Isles stunningly swept the Penguins in the opening round. I simply don't see the Caps suffering the same fate. Take Washington (10*).

NHL Eastern Conference Game of the Month. My selection is on Tampa Bay over Columbus at 7:38 pm et on Saturday.

The Blue Jackets seem to be at their absolute best when facing adversity, just as we saw in Game 2 of this series after they were badly outplayed early on and fell behind 1-0. Now that they've evened this series at a game apiece, I look for a bit of a letdown from the Jackets as the Lightning's superior talent should shine through on Saturday evening in Toronto. Tampa Bay applied plenty of pressure on Columbus in Game 2, but simply didn't have any bounces go its way in an eventual 3-1 defeat. The Lightning are obviously loaded with offensive firepower and I would certainly expect to see a sharper performance on Saturday. Tampa goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy didn't bring his 'A' game in Game 2 but I do expect a solid bounce-back effort from him here. While we're being asked to lay a considerable price to back the Lightning, I do feel it is warranted. Take Tampa Bay (10*).

My selection is on Boston over Carolina at 12:08 pm et on Saturday.

10:20 am et update: Note Bruins G Tuukka Rask has opted out of the NHL Playoffs. That means Jaro Halak will be in goal for Boston today. I’ll stick with the play on the Bruins as Halak is one of the league‘s better backups.

Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask caused quite a stir when he suggested that the atmosphere feels like that of exhibition games during these NHL Playoffs, obviously being played without fans in the "bubble" in Toronto. The Bruins certainly didn't bring their 'A' game in Game 2 of this series after prevailing in overtime in the series-opener. With that being said, the Hurricanes still needed to hang on for dear life to secure a narrow 3-2 victory in Game 2 to even up the series. Here, I look for the Bruins to bounce back on the strength of a big performance from Rask in goal as they get a leg up in Game 3 on Saturday afternoon. Take Boston (10*).