NHL Best Bets
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If I were to have told you that the New York Rangers had a chance to sweep the Carolina Hurricanes on the road tonight, few people would have believed it. This series has been outstanding, but tonight should be an emotional battle for the home team as they hope to avoid being swept two years in a row in the postseason.
In the West, with the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche series shifting back to Colorado, the home team should have a ton of buzz.
Let’s get into it.
NY Rangers at Carolina (-148, +124)
The Carolina Hurricanes gave the New York Rangers everything they had in Game Three, but it’s been the same story over and over again. The Canes got plenty of scoring chances, more quantity than quality, but their struggles on the power play were once again the determining factor. For the third straight game, Carolina went 0/5 on the man advantage and are now 0/15 in the series. Not only have they not scored on their power play, but they actually gave up a shorthanded goal in Game Three, so if you think about it, they’re actually -1/15 in the series.
The Rangers should know what to expect in this game. Carolina, similar to Game 3, is going to put a lot of pucks at Igor Shesterkin, who has 99 saves in his last two games, but when the Rangers get their chances, they’re going to need to be opportunistic like they have been. The Rangers’ big players like Artemi Panarin, Vincent Trocheck, Alexis Lafreniere, and Mika Zibanejad have shown up to play in this series, and they’re finishing their chances.
Outside of Jake Guentzel, Carolina isn’t getting the same production from their big guns. I anticipate the Rangers to tighten up a bit defensively, especially in the first period of tonight’s game considering that the first period of Game 3 was probably their worst of the entire postseason. They were outshot 17-7.
Carolina is going to throw everything they can at the Rangers tonight.
NHL Best Bet(s): Under 1.5 in the first period -120 (play to -130) | Andrei Svechnikov over 2.5 shots on goal -160 (play to -170) | Martin Necas over 2.5 shots on goal -135 (play to -145) | Igor Shesterkin over 30.5 saves -135 (play to -145)
Dallas at Colorado (-135, 6.5)
The story tonight is simple for the Colorado Avalanche – they need a better start to this game. In Games One and Two, the Dallas Stars jumped out to a 3-0 lead and a 4-0, which put Colorado in a hole way too early.
The Avalanche have only played two home games in the playoffs thus far, and they looked like a much more dominant team. In their two home games in round one, the Avalanche outscored the Winnipeg Jets by a combined 11-4 score and outshot them in both games.
The Avalanche have been the highest-scoring team in all of the playoffs, averaging an insane 5.00 goals per game and it will be a challenge for Dallas to slow them down in their own barn. Colorado is getting incredible offensive production throughout their lineup right now as they have seven players that producing at a point per game pace, Dallas doesn’t have any.
It’s tough to bet against Colorado at home right now, given how well they played in round one. Outside of some bad starts in this series, they have been right there with Dallas.
I like Colorado to set the tone early tonight and take Game 3.
NHL Best Bet: Colorado Avalanche ML -135 (play to -145)
May Record: 19-7 (+12.09 units)
2023-24 record: 172–157 (-14.61 units)
