NHL Best Bets
Happy Father’s Day to all those reading this. I hope you all get to enjoy this lovely day. Now, onto some NHL best bets!
In last night’s game, the Edmonton Oilers showed on Saturday night that they’re not going away easily. The oldest saying when it comes to a playoff series is that the hardest win to get is always the fourth one. With that said, the Florida Panthers now have a chance to head back home on Tuesday night and close this series out in front of their home crowd.
Despite having the 3-1 lead going into Game 5 at home, does the pressure actually now fall on Florida to get it done on home ice?
The last thing in the world that the Panthers could want would be hopping back on a plane to Edmonton to have to play a Game 6.
Connor McDavid finally broke through in Game 4. Will he be able to keep his foot on the gas in Game 5?
Let’s get into our NHL best bets.
Edmonton at Florida (-135, 5.5)
What the Edmonton Oilers were able to do in Game 4, which made them successful, was their ability to get on the inside of the Florida Panthers. There’s been a lot of time spent on the perimeter in the prior games for the Oilers, but to the credit of the Panthers, that’s what they’re known best for. Their commitment to defending.
While the Oilers did give a strong effort, that wasn’t the brand of Panther hockey we are used to seeing, and there will most definitely be adjustments made from Game 4 to Game 5.
There wasn’t a single player on Florida that had a positive game, but with that can be the anticipation of a strong bounce back in Game 5. One of those players specifically is Sergei Bobrovsky.
Bobrovsky allowed five goals against on 16 shots faced, easily his worst performance of the playoffs. While he wasn’t at his best, neither was the team in front of him. Most of Edmonton’s goals came from right at the top of the crease, and as a goaltender, there isn’t much you can do in those situations. At the time of writing this, there isn’t a line for goalies save props, but I would take the over on Bobrovsky.
Aleksander Barkov, who has been one of the best players in the entire postseason had his most quiet game on Saturday night, but he was able to generate two shots on goal. It’s interesting that through the first four games of the series, Barkov hasn’t had more than two shots on goal in any of them. He was a -2 in Game 4, and I don’t see that happening again in this series. He’s been incredible on the defensive side of the puck.
NHL Best Bets: Sergei Bobrovsky over saves (no line yet) | Aleksander Barkov under 2.5 shots on goal -135 (play to -150)
June Record: 7-13 (-8.30 units)
2023-24 record: 199–189 (-24.22 units)
