Happy Cinco de Mayo! Last night I was an empty net goal with 41 seconds left in Carolina away from perfection as I had a great bounce back night going 5-2-1 to win 4.75 units and some of our series bets look even better now. Tonight we have the big favorites for Game 2s in the four series that started on Tuesday. Let’s keep rolling!

I’m adding an additional unit on the Lightning to win their series against the Leafs.

We also get TNT broadcasts for the first time in the playoffs tonight, which I can’t fucking wait way. TNT has been incredible in their first season and way superior to ESPN.

Game 2: Rangers vs. Penguins (7:00)

The Rangers got robbed in Game 1 on a bullshit goaltender inference call to take away their late third period go ahead goal by Kappo Kakko that clearly had the Penguins player push him in Casey DeSmith. In a hell of game, the Pens went on to win in triple overtime on a great tip in winner from Evgeni Malkin. At that point, when a game goes to triple OT, its pretty much dumb luck that results in a game winner. Oh well. The Rags played good hockey in that game and this year’s Vezina winner Igor Shesterkin made 80 saves in a losing effort. Double loser for me on the under and the Rangers. These guys have to be completely gassed from playing more than five and a half periods of tough playoff hockey on Tuesday and I have no idea how I should approach the over/under on this game. Going into the series, I leaned it would trend under but the Pens goaltending was a big question for me and that question got even more complicated tonight with Louis Domingue confirmed to be starting in goal. In the second overtime period on Tuesday night, Casey DeSmith came out of the game with an undisclosed injury and is ruled out tonight. That’s a big blow for the Penguins who are already without their starting goalie Tristan Jarry. Domingue made 17 saves in his relief appearance on Tuesday but he’s not a great goalie and the Rangers should be able to jump on him and win tonight to tie up the series. I’ll take the Rangers ML for 2 units and the Rangers TT over 3 for a unit. This is pretty much a must win for them at home, especially with the Pens goaltending situation. Even with the Game 1 loss, I do really like the Rangers to win the series and if DeSmith and Jarry both continue to be out, I like it even more. I’d slightly lean the over, expecting sloppier play tonight but I’d rather just stay off the total.

Game 2: Panthers vs. Capitals (7:30)

In Game 1 in Florida on Tuesday night, the Panthers were a huge disappointment as they lost 4-2 to the Capitals, a triple loser for me as they blew a 2-1 lead almost halfway through the third period. This was the best team in the NHL and their top notch offense could only get two goals past an inexperienced goaltender. I don’t see that happening again and I’m not going to overthink that game. I’ll go back to the Panthers TT over 3.5, Panthers in regulation for a unit each on this game and 1.5 units on the over. I think Florida comes out hot early in this game to establish their dominance in this matchup and I’ll go with a half unit each on the Panthers -.5 in the first period and Panthers TT over 1 in the first period.

Game 2: Avalanche vs. Predators (9:30)

The Avalanche put on an absolute shit pumping on the Predators in Game 1 on Tuesday night where they put up five goals on David Rittich in the first period on their way to an easy 7-2 victory. A triple winner for me! The Avs are the insanely better team in this series and after watching Game 1, I don’t think the Preds have a shot at winning more than a game in this series and will likely be swept which is good for my series bets. Tonight Nashville will start rookie goalie Connor Ingram in his first playoff game and I don’t expect anything different from him than we got out of Rittich on Tuesday. He’s 1-2 this season with a horrendous 3.71 GAA and .879 save percentage. I’m going to hammer Colorado again here with three units on the Avs TT over 4, half a unit on the over, a unit on the Avs first period TT and half a unit on the Avs -.5 in the first period. They’re going to dominate the Predators again.

Game 2: Flames vs. Stars (10:00)

Game 1 on Tuesday night in Calgary was a hell of a grind and quite a sweat for me as the Flames ultimately won 1-0 for a nice regulation winner for me. Elias Lindholm scored for Calgary five minutes into the game on a power play and that was all they needed as they rode that out to the win. Jacob Markstrom had a pretty easy night thanks to the Flames defense, needing to making just 16 saves on his way to his tenth shutout of the season. I like Calgary to win this game at home again tonight to take a 2-0 series lead back to Dallas for Game 3. The moneyline is too expensive at -240, but I’ll take the Flames in regulation for 2 units. I’ll also go with the under for a unit. The pace of Game 1 was so slow in this series that even if it picks up the pace in Game 2, I still see it staying under the number.

I will also parlay the four favorites on the moneyline for a unit.

Game Bets

2u Rangers ML (-159)

1u Rangers TT over 3 (-155)

1u Panthers in regulation (-150)

1u Panthers TT over 3.5 (-180)

1.5u Panthers/Capitals over 6.5 (-136)

.5u 1P Panthers -.5 (+108)

.5u 1P Panthers TT over 1 (-132)

3u Avalanche TT over 4 (-152)

.5u Avalanche/Predators over 6.5 (-134)

1u 1P Avalanche TT over 1 (-155)

.5u 1P Avalanche -.5 (-114)

2u Flames in regulation (-137)

1u Flames/Stars under 5.5 (-114)

1u parlay: Rangers ML & Panthers ML & Avalanche ML & Flames ML (+305)

Series Bets

1u Bruins (+104)

2u Bruins/Hurricanes over 5.5 games (-162)

2u Lightning (-107)

1u Lightning (-118)

2u Lightning/Maple Leafs over 5.5 games (-162)

2u Wild/Blues over 5.5 games (-175)

1u Wild/Blues over 6.5 games (+220)

.2u Wild win series 4-2 (+490)

.2u Wild win series 4-3 (+475)

.2u Blues win series 4-3 (+600)

2u Oilers in six games or less (-114)

2.5u Rangers (-118)

2.5u Panthers in six games or less (-152)

1u Avalanche in five games or less (-117)

1u Avalanche win series 4-1 (+230)

1u Avalanche win series 4-0 (+290)

3u Flames in six games or less (-157)

Futures

1u Bruins: Stanley Cup Champions (+1800)

1u Wild: Stanley Cup Champions (+1600)

.5u Blues: Stanley Cup Champions (+2200)

Record: 818-618-34 (+10.52 units)

Regular Season: 809-605-32 (+19.61 units)

Playoffs: 9-13-2 (-9.09 units)

---

Please follow me:

Instagram: @atownszone

Twitter: @atownszone

TikTok: @atownszone

If you like the site and my work, share it with your friends!

… and tell Dave Portnoy to hire me…