Written by Graeme & Scott on Monday, August 24th, 2020
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The Bruins and Lightning had a tight game yesterday with the Bruins winning 3-2. That looks to be a tight series although Tampa will be hoping it is similar to the 2018 playoffs where they lost the first against the Bruins, then ended up winning 4-1.
The Vancouver Canucks were surprisingly shut out by the Vegas Knights in a 5-0 thrashing as the Knights reminded the Canucks who the boss in the West is. This was the 6th time the Canucks have been shut out this season, and 2nd time in the playoffs.
Almost every other time they have been shut out they have bounced back with a big win such as losing 3-0 to the Flames then beating the Kings 8-2. Will be interesting seeing if they can pull that off against the Knights.
We have a Game 1 today and a Game 2. Islanders face off against the Flyers and the Stars go up against the Colorado Avalanche.
Islanders vs Flyers Betting Tips:
October 27th: Islanders 5-3 Flyers
November 16th: Flyers 3-4 Islanders (SO)
February 11th: Islanders 5-3 Flyers
Graeme: The Islanders got here by beating the #8 seeds the Montreal Canadiens. It was on the back of some strong performances by goalie Carter Hart. The Islanders have had the longer journey here, beating a tough Panthers team then the Washington Capitals.
The Flyers are slight favourites at the sportsbooks for this game.
Honestly I’m fine going with the Islanders here based on results so far. Isles have the tight defense however their offense has been excellent with over 3 goals on average per game. If Hart can stop them then good for him. Flyers have not shown enough offensively for me to back them here.
I’m certainly shit scared of Carter Hart who certainly has that ability to win a game on his own. However from the playoffs played so far I feel good backing Islanders to win incl OT.
Scott: The Isles beat the Caps in 5 games to get here. The Caps had basically the same team they had when the won the Cup so that was a huge win for the Isles. The Flyers beat the Habs in 6 games to get to the second round. So looking at the competition they faced the Islanders beat the better team.
This will be a good series between Metropolitan Division rivals. As always with the first game of a series its tough to predict. But with the fact that the Isles beat the Caps and made it look easy, I’ll take them in game 1. But if Hart plays the way he is capable of it could go the way of the Flyers. In my opinion its a coin flip here so I’ll take the underdogs.
Islanders win incl OT
Canada: 2.00 Odds at BetOnline..
USA: +100 Odds at BetOnline..
Everyone Else: 2.00 Odds at BetOnline..
Note for Canadians: If you want to bet the Flyers they are 1.95 at Sports Interaction (SIA) which is the best odds I saw and that’d be a pretty good time to take advantage of the free money back bet.
(Odds correct as of 2020/08/24 8:09:52 AM EST but are subject to change.)
Stars vs Avalanche Betting Tips:
Graeme: The Stars offense showed a big improvement in the last game. Their xG rates are getting better and I think they can continue that. Avs can still score for fun. It won’t surprise me if this is another high scoring game and the line is moved to 6 going forward. However the line seems to be based on regular season Stars and not playoff Stars, so I’m good with Over 5.5 Goals incl OT
Canada: 2.02 Odds at BetOnline..
USA: -102 Odds at BetOnline..
Everyone Else: 2.02 Odds at BetOnline..
(Odds correct as of 2020/08/24 8:09:52 AM EST but are subject to change.)
Scott: Well game 1 is in the books and the Stars top line came alive and went to work to pick up the win. Radulov scored twice and Seguin got his first of the playoffs. Avs coach Jared Bedmar admitted that half of his team didn’t show up in game 1.
I expect the Avalanche to show up big time in game 2 as they can’t afford to go down 2-0 to a Stars team who is clicking at the moment.
Avalanche win in regulation
Canada: 2.08 Odds at 888 Sports.
USA: +100 Odds at Bovada.
Everyone Else: 2.08 Odds at 888 Sports.
(Odds correct as of 2020/08/24 8:09:52 AM EST but are subject to change.)
