Playoff hockey continues to deliver. Jake Oettinger stood on his head last night stopping all 29 shots he faced allowing the Stars to even up the series. Connor Ingram also looked great for Nashville with a .961 SV% before losing to Colorado in overtime. The Rangers got a huge win at MSG which evened up the series and Florida put together a dominant performance at home to beat the Caps 5-1.
We have some great games tonight so I’ll breakdown my picks below.
Carolina Hurricanes @ Boston Bruins
- Series: Carolina Hurricanes 2-0
- Game Odds: CAR +110, BOS -130, O/U: 5.5 (-120/+100)
- Preview/ Pick:
The Boston Bruins head back home after losing both games in Carolina. In addition to losing both games, they also lost one of their best defensemen Hampus Lindholm who was acquired at the trade deadline from Anaheim in an effort to sure of their top four. The Bruins will look slightly different heading into Game 3 as they return Pastrnak to the top line with Marchand and Bergeron while moving DeBrusk to the second line with Hall and Haula. Plain and simple, the Bruins desperately need a spark offensively. Marchand who led the team in points during the regular season, only has one point in this series. With this move, the Bruins have really put all their eggs in one basket here and are banking on this top line to generate several goals.
Carolina has just flat out dominated the Bruins in their series continuing that trend from the regular season. In the past two games, the Hurricanes have outscored the Bruins 10 to 3. Despite winning both games, Carolina lost Antti Raanta who was their backup all season but was forced into the starting role after Frederick Anderson went down late in the regular season. Pytor Kochetkov, a rookie, will now take over netminder duties for them. He looked good in Game 2, finishing with a .938 SV% and a +0.25 GSAx. He’ll get his first career playoff start tonight.
While the Bruins aren’t technically facing a must-win game tonight, in reality, it is a must win game as they aren’t going to beat the Hurricanes four games in a row. The good news for Boston is that they have been much better at home this season and TD Garden should provide an electric atmosphere for the home team. Linus Ullmark started the first two games and struggled allowing ten goals combined. The Bruins will turn to rookie goaltender Jeremy Swayman for Game 3 who will be making his first career playoff start. Swayman had a great season and showed that he could eventually take over the number one role in Boston. However, he did struggle coming into the playoffs allowing three or more goals in his past three stats.
PICK: BOSTON BRUINS/ CAROLINA HURRICANES o5.5 -112 – Barstool (1 Unit)
The Bruins desperately need this game and I think the changes in their top six will provide them with some additional chances. Pytor Kochetkov will start again for Carolina, who’s coming off an amazing game that I’m not sure he’ll be able to repeat. Jeremy Swayman gets his first career playoff start and hasn’t been looking great so I think Carolina’s offense will at least get a few by him especially with Boston’s defensive core banged up a bit.
LINEMATE PLAYER PROP: Jake DeBrusk over 2.5 SOG +140 – DraftKings
DeBrusk now moves to the second line where he’ll play with Haula and Hall. In the first two games of the series, he’s recorded 2 and 1 SOG respectively. Now, he’ll have more of an opportunity on the second line to play a primary role. Without Pastrnak, him and Hall will have to be the ones to generate offense on this line. During the regular season, he’s only gone over 2.5 SOG in one of three matchups against Carolina. However, given the circumstances for the Bruins tonight, I think this move to the second line provides him with a spark and he has a great game. This is a small play as the Bruins offense hasn’t shown any signs of life in the first two games of this series.
Toronto Maple Leafs @ Tampa Bay Lightning
- Series: Tied 1-1
- Game Odds: TOR +100, TBL -120, O/U: 6.5 (-105/-115)
- Preview/ Pick:
The Leafs came out in Game 1 firing on all cylinders defeating the back-to-back Stanley Cup Champions 5-0 in front of the home crowd. The Lightning responded in Game 2, beating the Leafs 5-3 behind a stellar performance from Andrei Vasilevskiy. Over the course of the last two post-seasons, Tampa Bay has never lost two games in a row. The series heads back to Tampa for Games 3 and 4 with the momentum shifting to the Lightning.
The Bolts have been great at home all season and I think they continue that trend here tonight. While the Leafs have proven that they aren’t going to roll over in this series, I think Tampa Bay will take a 2-1 lead tonight. They’ll be able to get the matchups they want and it’s only a matter of time before their Power Play returns to its dominant form.
PICK: TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING ml -112 – Barstool (1 Unit)
Minnesota Wild @ St. Louis Blues
- Series: Tied 1-1
- Game Odds: MIN +110, STL -130, O/U: 6.5 (+100/-120)
- Preview/ Pick:
The Wild and Blues are all tied up at one game a piece heading back to St. Louis. The Blues got a huge win in Game 1 with the Wild responding in Game 2. Kirill Kaprizov recorded the first ever post season hattrick in Minnesota Wild history. Oddly enough, Joel Eriksson Ek almost had this honor, but the goal was called back after a coach’s challenge.
Marc-Andre Fleury is expected to start Game 3 who looked much better in Game 2, after struggling in Game 1. Ville Husso is also expected to be the starter for the Blues tonight who has started both games in this series.
All season long, the Blues have been one of the best teams at home. The Wild looked dominant behind Fleury in Game 2 but he hasn’t been as consistent as past years. Husso, did struggle in Game 2 and will need to put together a solid performance tonight before the possibility of Jordan Binnington starting Game 4 arises. If the Blues want to prevent the Wild from gaining momentum and possibly taking two games on the road, they need to win tonight. The Blues are also without several of their top defensemen tonight but regardless, I still like them.
PICK: ST. LOUIS BLUES ml -118 – Barstool (1 Unit)
Best of luck, and as always you can find me on Twitter @GatorBetting and Instagram @Gator_Sports_Betting.
