The Montreal Canadiens hit the road to take on the Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena on Wednesday night, and this one has the makings of a fun watch for new bettors looking to dip a toe into same-game parlays. Puck drop is set for 7:30 p.m. ET, with the Capitals favored at home and the total sitting at a healthy 6.5 goals.

If you’ve never built a same-game parlay before, this is a great teaching example because every leg leans on something you can actually see happening on the ice: the home team’s edge, a style of game that tends to produce goals, and a star player who’s been piling up production early this season. Combine two or three of those outcomes into one bet, and if they all hit, the parlay cashes at a bigger payout than betting each piece separately. Here’s how we’d build it for this game.

Leg 1: Capitals Win on the Moneyline

Washington is the home favorite here, priced at roughly -130 to -134 across most sportsbooks, with Montreal sitting as the underdog around +112 to +115. For a beginner-friendly parlay, the moneyline is the simplest bet on the board: you’re just picking who wins the game, no point spread or puck line math involved.

The Capitals enter at 3-3 on the young season, while the Canadiens sit at 3-2-1. Washington’s lineup is anchored by Tom Wilson, who leads the club with five points through five games, and Alex Tuch, who has three goals early. On the Montreal side, Nick Suzuki has been terrific out of the gate with eight points (three goals, five assists) in five games, which is exactly why he shows up again in Leg 3 below — this game has two offenses capable of trading chances, and the layered model numbers lean toward a tight battle where the Capitals’ extra depth up front and home-ice advantage give them a slight edge.

This is also the leg most books list first on their NHL odds boards, which makes it a natural starting point if you’re new to building parlays and want to see how the rest of the pieces stack around a simple moneyline pick.

Leg 2: Over 6.5 Total Goals

The total for this game has been set at 6.5, with the over priced around -114 to -115 depending on the sportsbook and the under sitting near -105 to -106. For newer bettors, the total (or “over/under”) is another straightforward concept: you’re simply betting on whether the combined score of both teams goes above or below that number.

There’s real statistical support for the over here. Washington’s recent five-game stretch has gone over 6.5 in four of its last five outings, including a 4-3 win over Buffalo and a 6-5 loss to Pittsburgh earlier this month. Montreal’s defense has also been generous at times this season, and with Washington goaltender Logan Thompson carrying a 2.84 GAA and .904 save percentage through his first three starts, neither crease looks airtight right now. When two teams with inconsistent goaltending numbers meet, totals tend to trend upward, and that’s the logic behind pairing this over with the Capitals moneyline above.

Leg 3: Nick Suzuki Over 2.5 Shots on Goal

For the player prop leg, Nick Suzuki stands out as the clearest target on either roster. Montreal’s captain-caliber center has racked up eight points in five games this season, the best mark on either team, and his shots-on-goal prop is set at 2.5, with the over available around +130 at some books. Suzuki has been getting his shots through consistently early in the year, and as Montreal’s first-line center and power-play quarterback, he’s going to see the puck a lot regardless of how the scoreline shakes out.

This leg works well in a beginner parlay because it isn’t tied to the final result — Suzuki can clear 2.5 shots on goal whether the Canadiens win or lose, which means it doesn’t live or die with the moneyline leg above. That kind of independence between legs is exactly what makes a three-leg SGP feel less like one all-or-nothing swing and more like three separate, reasonable bets stacked together.

The Full Parlay

Put it all together and you’ve got: Capitals moneyline, Over 6.5 total goals, and Nick Suzuki Over 2.5 shots on goal. Each leg stands on its own logic — a home favorite, a total built for two leaky defenses, and a star center who gets his shot volume regardless of outcome — which is exactly the kind of parlay beginners should look to build before graduating to riskier, more correlated same-game combinations.

Check your sportsbook for the combined price before placing it, since odds can shift closer to puck drop, but this is a clean, understandable way to get a feel for how same-game parlays work without overcomplicating your first ticket.