Last night we had incredible NHL playoff hockey. Just spectacular games. I went 2-2 on those games, losing on the two games that went to overtime to lose 2.22 units. Tonight we have four more games with the Battle of Florida starting. Let’s win!
Hurricanes vs. Devils (6:00)
This series is going to be over very quickly and I’m think the Canes are going to just sweep the Devils. Carolina dominated Game 1 with a 4-1 win on Sunday afternoon, outshooting the Devils 45-24, scoring early and getting out to a 3-0 lead in the second period and just coasting through the rest of the game. Really the only redeeming thing for Jersey was that Markstrom was pretty good in goal, but the Devils generally looked awful all game. Tonight I’ll take the Hurricanes in regulation for 2 units, along with half a unit on the under. I’ll also add to my series bets with another 1.5 units on the Hurricanes to win it in five games or less.
Maple Leafs vs. Senators (7:30)
Game 1 of the Battle of Ontario was a ton of fun. The core four dominated for Toronto and Anthony Stolarz was fantastic, as the Leafs capitalized on the lack of experience for the Sens, who took a lot of stupid penalties leading to goals on the way to a 6-2 Leafs win at home. Linus Ullmark also played pretty poorly in goal for the Senators. I like the Leafs to win this one again tonight at home to take a 2-0 series lead back to Ottawa and I’ll take them for a unit. I like the over too, which I’ll take for half a unit as well.
Lightning vs. Panthers (8:30)
We once again get an incredible Battle of Florida in the Atlantic Division as the final series to start of the first round begins tonight in Tampa, with the 2 seed Tampa Bay Lightning facing their rival 3 seed Florida Panthers, the defending Stanley Cup Champions. I’m expecting a spectacular seven games between these teams in a hard-hitting, electric series. I broke down the whole series in depth last night, and as I said in that blog, I think this is going to be easily the best series of the first round and it’s pretty much a complete toss up on who wins it. I’d slightly lean the Lightning get the series win this season, but I don’t like it enough to bet on. I love this series to go at least six or probably seven games. I’ll lay the -184 on the series to go over 5.5 games for 2.5 units. I’d lean the games in this series tend to trend over. The over 5.5 in the season series between these teams went 2-2, and the over 6 went 0-2-2. There really aren’t great trends to back up that I like the over, with the total in Lightning games going 38-38-6 and in Panthers games going 44-36-2 to the under. I just think we end up getting a ton of penalties and power play goals with that extra energy in this series that leads to more goals. To get some action here, I’ll take the over for half a unit tonight in Game 1. I’d lean the Lightning win Game 1 of this series at home tonight, but don’t like it enough to bet on.
Golden Knights vs. Wild (11:00)
I don’t think this series is going to last very long. I think Minnesota might get one win at home, but the Golden Knights are just too deep and balanced of a team. The Wild hung in and played pretty well in Game 1, but Vegas was just too much to them, controlling the whole game. They won 4-2, giving me a bad beat on the under as time expired (although I was sort of okay with it since Wild Bill should’ve gotten awarded on the empty netter when he got tripped by Boldy with about a minute and a half left), but the Knights were definitely the better team. I’ll take Vegas in regulation for 1.5 units tonight. I’d lean the under again, but not enough to bet it.
Game Bets
2u Hurricanes in regulation (-165)
.5u Hurricanes/Devils under 5.5 (-130)
1u Maple Leafs ML (-166)
.5u Maple Leafs/Senators over 5.5 (-125)
.5u Lightning/Panthers over 5.5 (-108)
1.5u Golden Knights in regulation (-140)
Series Bets
2u Jets/Blues over 5.5 games (-168)
2u Avalanche to win series (-155)
1.5u Avalanche/Stars over 5.5 games (-172)
2.5u Hurricanes to win series in six games or less (-115)
3u Golden Knights to win series in six games or less (-110)
.5u Golden Knights to win series in five games or less (+200)
3u Capitals to win series in six games or less (-145)
1.5u Kings to win series (+110)
1.5u Oilers/Kings over 5.5 games (-180)
2.5u Panthers/Lightning over 5.5 games (-184)
1.5u Hurricanes to win series in five games or less (-120)
Futures
2u Vegas Golden Knights to win the Stanley Cup (+1800)
Records
Regular Season: 567-497-14 (-58.18 units)
Round 1: 7-4 (+1.92 units)
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A Town's Zone 