Written by Graeme & Scott on Tuesday, April 25th, 2017
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The NHL playoffs get back to business tomorrow with the 2nd round games.
It’s the Western Conference that kicks off the 2nd round with the Predators taking on the Blues, then the Oilers taking on the Ducks.
As per usual, we’ll cover each series, give our prediction and then do individual game betting tips from there on out. We’ll tell you who we think will win the series and then for those who like to gamble with the bigger odds we’ll tell you in how many games we think they’ll win it in.
Should be some interesting games. The Ducks sweeped the Flames 4-0 although luck was on their side, while the Oilers beat a lacklustre Sharks team 4-2. We can’t forget that Sharks 7-0 drubbing of the Oilers however.
The Predators pulled off the biggest upset of the first round as they dominated the Blackhawks in the other sweep of the playoffs. The Blues relied a lot on Jake Allen but ended up with a 4-1 victory in games.
Let’s get to it:
Predators vs Blues Series Betting Tips:
Scott: The Predators went out and easily handled the Western Conferences 1st place team, the Chicago Blackhawks, in 4 games and only gave up 3 goals.
The Blues also had an upset in the 1st round when they beat the 2nd place Wild in 5 games.
This is going to be a great series. If the Preds cam get the same kind of performance from Rinne than they are a team to be feared. But Rinne has shown in the past that consistency is an issue. But for an 8th seed to completely dominate the Hawks you have to take them seriously.
The Blues run 3 strong lines and are also getting some strong goaltending from Jake Allen. They are a much different team than the Blackhawks so I think the Preds are going to have some trouble in this series. They are physical where the Hawks were the opposite.
I’ve gone back and forth with this series but the Preds defense is going to make the difference in my opinion.
Predators in 6
Graeme: The Predators won the series between them 3-2. This is going to be an interesting series because you have both goalies with great stats going into it – especially Rinne.
The Predators were a team I watched a lot during the regular season. I mentioned it earlier but they were the team we lost the most money on during the regular season – backing them and losing in games that man – they really should have won.
They had really weird inconsistencies like that and so I focused a lot on their games to try and see what was making them tick and try and understand when to tip them etc. However I just kept thinking they were such a disjointed team.
I was very surprised that they beat the Blackhawks and blown away that it was a sweep. A lot of it was just very poor performances by the Hawks however the Predators deserve a lot of credit.
I really liked what I saw from the Blues however. They rode Allen a fair bit but they still produced and they came into the Xcel on fire with that massive 4-3 win.
Add in home ice advantage and the fact that they’re the underdogs, and I’ll take the Blues in 6.
Canada: Bet the series correct score at Sports Interaction. It’s at “NHL Futures” under “Hockey”.
USA: Bet the series correct score at Bovada. Go to “Hockey” on the sidebar, then use the dropdown in the top menu to choose “NHL Playoffs Series Prices”.
Everyone Else: Bet the series correct score at Bet365 (Americans: We recommend http://www.bovada.lv or BetOnline.. At B365 it’s under “Hockey” and then right at the very bottom – NHL Futures 2016/2017. Pinnacle has it under “Specials”, “Hockey”, “NHL”.
Ducks vs Oilers Series Betting Tips:
Scott: The Oilers beat last year’s finalist Sharks in 6 games. But one of their losses was a bad one when they got beat 7-0.
The Ducks swept the Flames but 3 of the 4 games were decided by a goal.
By beating the Sharks the Oilers showed the world that they are finished being a team in contention for the first overall pick and they are built for the playoffs.
Sure the Ducks had a sweep in the first round but the Sharks are a much better team than the Flames. The Oilers are expecting better performances from Draisaitl, Nugent-Hopkins and Eberle to ease the pressure on McDavid and I think we will see that this round.
Oilers in 6
Graeme: There’s no doubt that the Ducks got a lot of luck in their series against the Flames. The bounces were going their way etc. Of course you need that to win the cup but I don’t think their performances were sweep worthy.
I’m not fully convinced on the Oilers though. They seemed to switch off a lot in their games. That 7-0 loss was appaling. And I mentioned Game 5 where the Oilers looked like they had zero energy until McDavid got a big hit on Sorenson. For a team that’s not made the playoffs since 2006, I’d like to see the sort of energy from them that we saw from the Leafs.
I’m just not seeing that.
I’m taking the Ducks to win this series and I’ll take them in 7.
Canada: Bet the series correct score at Sports Interaction. It’s at “NHL Futures” under “Hockey”.
USA: Bet the series correct score at Bovada. Go to “Hockey” on the sidebar, then use the dropdown in the top menu to choose “NHL Playoffs Series Prices”.
Everyone Else: Bet the series correct score at Bet365 (Americans: We recommend http://www.bovada.lv or BetOnline.. At B365 it’s under “Hockey” and then right at the very bottom – NHL Futures 2016/2017. Pinnacle has it under “Specials”, “Hockey”, “NHL”.
We saw four problem teams in round one, with Minnesota being flat out bad, San Jose a mystery guest, Edmonton showing promise with lapses and Calgary weak. is St. Louis ready for a serious challenge? Anaheim has a few hero-effort players but does that translate into quality team effort under much more challenge (I don’t think so)? I give the early blind edge in Round 2 to Edmonton and Nashville. These matchups should give far superior hockey for 60 minutes per game to what happened in many of their Round 1 games. Hopefully we’re not going to see shutouts unless it’s because of spectacular defensive effort.