The set-up: The Caps and their star, captain Alex Ovechkin, have been best-known for great regular seasons followed by early playoff exits. That was the case again last season but the Caps, particularly Ovechkin, have sure stormed out of the gate with purpose, so far. Washington has opened with 5-4 and 6-1 wins, with Ovechkin. possibly responding o his lowest-scoring full season since 2010-11, followed up a hat trick in the season opener with four more goals in Saturday's win. The Lightning won Friday night at home 5-3 over the Panthers in their season-opener but then lost the next night in Miami, 5-4.

Washington: Evgeny Kuznetsov has been big part of Ovechkin's scoring barrage with seven assists. Fellow linemate Jakub Vrana has set up three goals. Washington has just one power play goal (out of 10) but has been perfect on the penalty kill, keeping opponents scoreless on nine attempts with the man advantage. Capitals goalie Braden Holtby has a 2.40 goals-against average and is averaging 33 saves per game in opening 2-0..

Tampa Bay: The Lightning have nine goal in two games, as Brayden Point is off to a fast start for Tampa Bay after a strong finish to the 2016-17 season. He has five points, while captain Steven Stamkos has contributed three assists in his return from knee surgery. Tampa Bay is carrying eight defensemen to open the season, which means two are inactive each night. So far, the combos haven't worked well, as the Lightning have allowed 84 shots on net. The team's best player in the first two games has been Andrei Vasilevskiy, who turned aside 76 of the 84 shots he faced and gave his struggling team a chance to win both contests.

The pick: Ovechkin is a terrific player but he can't (won't) keep up his current pace. The two teams have played two games each with the four finals averaging 8.25 GPG. That won't continue either, as Holtby is a "big-time" goalie and as noted earlier, Vasilevskiy has played extremely well despite little help from his blue-liners. Make the Under a 10* play.