NHL Best Bets
The second rounds of the Stanley Cup Playoffs are in full swing, so there won’t be as many games every night for NHL best bets, but these matchups will be just a little more intense than we’ve gotten used to seeing.
Tonight, there is one game in each conference. The New York Rangers are taking on the Carolina Hurricanes on home ice in Game Two, while the Colorado Avalanche travel to Dallas to take on the Stars after their Game Seven win over the Vegas Golden Knights.
That said, Game One of this Dallas-Colorado series will be tough to read, I don’t want to force a play in that game. So only one NHL pick for me tonight, but I feel great about it.
Carolina at New York (+105, 5.5)
Special teams were going to be the difference in this series. That definitely showed in Game One between the New York Rangers and the Carolina Hurricanes. The final score was 4-3 in favor of New York, but the Hurricanes went 0/5 on their man-advantages, while the Rangers were a perfect 2/2.
Carolina is going to have to tighten up their penalty kill, which has been the second-worst in the entire postseason. They’re at a horrendous 61.5%. The Rangers’ top guys showed up in Game One as Mika Zibanejad tallied twice, Vincent Trocheck got on the board and Artemi Panarin scored his playoff-leading third game-winning goal.
For some reason, the Rangers are underdogs yet again tonight on home ice, despite the fact that the Carolina Hurricanes are 4-12 on the road in the playoffs dating back to 2022.
Home ice advantage is a big factor in this series, I’d say more so than any other second-round series. The Rangers have been excellent at Madison Square Garden all year long. They were the second-best team on home ice in the regular season and are now 3-0 in the playoffs.
The Hurricanes will definitely have some pushback tonight, but getting the Rangers as a home underdog is something that you just can’t pass up, especially when Panarin, Trocheck and Zibanejad found the back of the net this early in the series.
NHL Bet: New York Rangers ML
May Record: 10-5 (+4.95 units)
2023-24 record: 163–154 (-21.85 units)
