Written by Graeme on Tuesday, April 18th, 2017
Follow @BetNHL
Last night was the best night yet of the 2017 NHL Playoffs.
4 games, all of which went to overtime and all 4 underdogs won.
What an incredible bloody night that was.
The Senators had a solid road record throughout the season and they added to that with a big Game 3 win over the Bruins. The Ducks and the Flames had an incredible battle. The Flames PP was on fire but the Ducks prevailed with a big 5-4 win.
Then the two home dogs won. The Blackhawks came to life and went up 2-0 going into the 3rd period. However the Predators came back and won 3-2. The Blackhawks are on the verge of elimination now.
And finally the Toronto Maple Leafs – WOW. What a team. They took a 2-1 lead in an incredible fashion in what was an absolutely amazing game. The bookies will be smiling at that one as the Capitals took a lot of money pre-season to win the cup.
And holy crap – what about that Holtby diving poke check? Only in the playoffs.
Tonight we’ve got 3 games and we could see our first elimination as the 3-0 Penguins take on the Blue Jackets in Columbus.
Haven’t heard from Scott yet if he sends his in I’ll edit the post and add them to the comments. Not sure if he’s off swimming with dolphins or if he’s busy killing himself after the Hawks result.
Let’s get to it:
Canadiens vs Rangers Betting Tips:
Graeme: The Habs looked like a playoff team in Game 3 which was great to see. It was the first time in awhile where I’ve watched them and thought “Yep they deserve to be in the playoffs”. I don’t see anything real different in this one compared to the last one.
Honestly I think no bet is probably the best bet for this game. It’s a real 50-50 game.and so the odds are spot on. However I really was impressed with the way Montreal played last time out, and that’s got me betting the Habs to win tonight.
Penguins vs Blue Jackets Betting Tips:
Graeme: The big question is whether the Blue Jackets can pick themselves up for this game. It has to be a really crappy time for them. After such a great season to be looking at an inevitable elimination.
Jackets will be without Werenski and they need Bobrovsky to step up more than ever. He posted 7 shutouts during the regular season and had a .931 save percentage. Yet he’s having a dismal playoffs. Not that it’s all on him – but as we’re seeing from teams like the Blues – you need your goalie to step up.
I can’t back the Jackets to win. I’m going back and forth on a Penguins win or Over 5.5. The two conflicting factors are whether Bobrovsky steps up, or whether the Jackets are flat and just go through the motions.
If the Jackets are flat, the Penguins win but the over doesn’t hit. If Bobrovsky steps up that would hurt both the Over and the Penguins win. So the safer bet that I’m going to take is the Penguins to win.
Oilers vs Sharks Betting Tips:
Graeme: It was a surprising result in Game 3. The Sharks had Thorton back but the Oilers got a big 1-0 victory.
Edmonton seem to know what they’re doing on the road. I’m very conflicted on this one though. The Sharks are a better price than on Sunday but it’s hard to back them after the way that game went. I’m going to sit this one out. No bet.
@betnhlca:disqus and what about Rags – Habs going to OT? I think @ 3.72 it worths a shot 🙂 Is my bet set for tonight.
I also like Pens and/or the over like you, but I will wait up close to the game time.
GLTA
We rarely tip overtime as that’s such a tough thing to actually advise – 1 goal is all it takes obviously to separate two teams.
I think if there’s a game between two teams though where you feel it’s too close to call then it’s worth a bet. The Habs/Rangers ones have been close enough that I’d say that’s an +EV bet.
Sure! The playoff games are being so tight that 11/24 went to OT.
I am going with the over 5.5 @ 1.96
Leaning on San Jose/Edmonton Under 5 and Penguins ML. Any thoughts?
I agree with Edmonton/SJ Under, it’s my only pick today. I would lean Pittsburgh to win, but the elimination game can often be the hardest to win, so holding off for now.
Ouch!
Exciting hockey for some, nightmare for some. Every team i ended up going with last night blew a 2-3 goal lead. Just one of those nights where every bounce, goal review and lousy goaltending goes against you.
Oh well, time for bounce back hopefully.
Habs in regulation
– Habs have got their game figured out. There’s not really any area of their game you can point at and say this is a problem. Should be fun to go out and play for them. Meanwhile the Rangers have a number of problems which i think are the result of not playing playoff hockey at all prior to the playoffs. Now they’re asked to flip a switch against a team that’s resilient, defending well and playing a pretty good offensive game too. Rangers lost game 4 at home 5-0 to the Pens last year in the same situation. For me it’s looking like the Rangers are going to be another victim of playing against a team that have played playoff type games over a month now. These teams just seem to be so much more resilient (just like the Blues, Preds and Leafs look like right now).
Pens in regulation
– I just feel like i’ve seen this before. Game 3 on the road and the team up 2-0 in the series does the ol’ comeback and wins the game in OT. That’s always something that gets the team fired up and i don’t think we’ll see the Pens letting up here, meanwhile for the Jackets you only get a start like that (2-0 in first 5 mins) once and that’s where they needed to capitalize. They didn’t, series over. Im sure the Jackets will fight and not give up, but in 60 minutes the Pens have so much more scoring potential right now, so i have faith the game will tilt in their favor.
Sharks ML
– You can’t count the Sharks out at home. They’ve been good defensively, Jones is playing well enough for the team to win, Jumbo gets his 2nd game back after injury and you’d think Couture gradually gets better as well when he gets more games in. It’s all about getting the 1st goal right now, or any goals for that matter. So it’s not that bad for the Sharks right now. It’s not like they’re getting outplayed. In a must-win game like this, it’s always good if you have as many areas of the game in a good shape as possible and i feel like the Sharks have enough, so you don’t have to focus on fixing everything, rather just focus on the thing they’re struggling with (scoring).
Good luck !
We are both on the same page tonight Arto! Exactly my thoughts on every game
Welp, now the home teams decide to take care of business.
Todays bet Sharks to win Reg and two players to score Joe Pavelski and Cam Atkinson
Habs, Pitt, Sharks all in Reg!!!
What’s up!?
Habs/Rangers – Over 5.
Penguins/CBJ – Over 5.5
Staying away from Oilers/Sharks game.
Good luck to all!