Written by Graeme & Scott on Monday, May 29th, 2017
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Tonight sees the kick off of the Stanley Cup 2017 Finals as the Pittsburgh Penguins take on the Nashville Predators.
This is going to be a very interesting series. Both teams have had their fair share of injuries throughout the playoffs. The Preds will have Mike Fisher back tonight it looks like and they really need him to produce.
The Penguins got here by breezing through their first round matchup with the Blue Jackets 4-1. They had a much tougher series against the Capitals however with it going to 7 games. They also went to 7 games with the Senators with some odd results such as blowouts both for and against them.
The Predators crushed the Blackhawks 4-0 in the first series. The Blues were a tricky opposition in the second round but the Predators delivered with 3 wins out of 3 at home to beat them in 6 games then beat the Ducks in 6 as well.
Here are our thoughts on who will win the Stanley Cup – and unfortunately we don’t agree. We met up yesterday to discuss it and argued over it for an hour.
Penguins vs Predators Series Betting Tips:
Scott: Well one look at the sportsbooks and you’ll see that the Penguins are the heavy favorites.
They have incredible depth at forward and goalie and two of the best players on the planet with Crosby and Malkin. Where the Pens are weak right now is on defense with injuries.
And thats where the Preds have the major edge with Subban, Josi, Ellis and Ekholm. But at the center position the Preds have two big injuries. Johansen is out for the playoffs and captain Mike Fisher is a game time decision. Center is a crucial position in the playoffs and the Pens are great there.
I want the Preds to win their first Stanley Cup but it’s going to be a tough task for them. They have gotten to the finals thanks to Rinne and their D and beaten some tough competition along the way. They deserve the Cup.
But the Penguins can become the first team in 19 years to win back to back Cups. They know what it takes to win the cup and that experience is going to go a long way in this series. I do like the Preds to win a couple games though but I’m not sure they can win this series against this stacked Penguins team.
I’m going with the Penguins to win the Stanley Cup and I think they will do it in 6 games.
Graeme: I love the way that the Predators dug in deep when it mattered against the Ducks.
Despite the injuries they showed what a team they were and beat the Ducks in Game 5 and Game 6. What’s notable is they did it convincingly.
The Penguins never did that against the Senators. They lost in Game 6 and then won in double OT in Game 7. The fact is they struggled to make it in while the Predators have made it here on the back of confident performances.
This really feels like a pickem to me and the odds are too juicy to ignore.
Predators in 7 games.
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Both teams have their pros so picking the series winner is tough. Much has been said about the Preds D and rightfully so. Pens D are injured but if you look at the numbers, the NHL site has the Preds D with 42pts versus Pens D with 37pts. Not a big difference.
Experience will help but the Preds
have already played 3 rounds and in the end, what matters now is how each team plays in this round.
Undeniably, the Goalies have been sensational. No doubt the Pens have more offensive power on their roster and that could decide this in their favour. Should be a great series. Enjoy! ?
Game One: UNDER
Other than that, I’m probably off betting for this series unless some new trend shows up, such as staying UNDER. We’ll see.
I think the Pens will repeat. So many times i thought they were done but they just won’t break. And i think that’ll bring out the best of them in the finals. We haven’t really seen the Pens play their best hockey yet which is kind of scary. They’ve been in a survival mode in a lot of the games so far, whether it be fatigue or injuries – probably both, and yet they prevail. I think we’ll see an energized group of Penguins as they’re only 4 wins away. They enjoy the spotlight, and when the Pens have fun and play with passion man they’re tough to beat. Not to mention home advantage.
Preds i think hit their peak already in these playoffs. It’s going to be tough to get to the same level without Johansen. Reality is you’re going up against Crosby and Malkin without a single top 6 center. Rough.
I know the Preds have one hell of a top 4 D and that’s going to make these games interesting, but in every other area i think the Pens will beat them. And i don’t even think the Pens D is that bad honestly, they have basically 3 middle pairings, which brings balance and they’ve shown they can get the job done.
Hornqvist should be back soon, Sheary got it going in game 7 against Ottawa after a terrible post-season. Crosby is playing better each game after concussion. Malkin is healthy..
Preds only chance to win this series is to ride Pekka who should steal at least 2 games. But i just can’t see it. He hasn’t won a game against the Pens in almost 10 years, and i think the Pens have a lot of confidence against him. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Murray play lights out. He’s a big and calm goalie back there and that’s poison to an offensive challenged team that will lack some creativity. We already saw Gibson showing signs of taking over the WCF before he got hurt.
I also believe the Preds style suits the Pens just fine. Being aggressive is the way the Pens love to play and counter-attacking is what they love to do against a team like that.
Bottom line is, i think the Pens will have a positive trend moving forward while the Preds regress. We saw that in game 6 and 7 against the Ducks, those games combined they got heavily outshot and i think it was more about the Ducks finding ways to lose rather than the Preds finding ways to win.
It’s a damn shame Johansen got hurt, i really thought the Preds could’ve gone all the way, but yeah, i think we’ll see the Pens take a commanding lead in this series, maybe lose 1 in Nashville when the Preds have their backs against the wall and that terrific home crowd behind them, but then the Pens respond and go home with a 3-1 lead. I don’t think they’ve been able to win the cup at home in game 5, and they’ve had some problems closing out this post-season, so to me it’s either Pens in 5 or 6.
Logically, i like the Pens -1.5 @ 2.40
I agree. Very interesting points here. At all Pens are experienced and should be able to take the cup.
Hope we see some high scoring matches!
I thought about a best case for the Pens would be:
Won – Lost – Won – Won – Won
The worst case:
Won – Lost – Won – Lost – Won – Lost – Won
But it may be that Nashville starts to score like hell – haha. Minimal chance.
Good analysis–I agree with Pens prevailing.
Nashville win the cup %100
I think Nashville will win their first stanley cup on 6th game. Nashvilles very tough and motivated. I always liked how they play and I think and wish they win what they desirve. Nashville did not make that far before and I think it ll be nice to see when they are rising up the stanley cup.
Pens, they are very strong as always but sonehow they are not stable and npt trustable as before. There will be tough games without single doubt and it ll be very hard to predict which games going how and ends how.
Tonight tip
Nashville win %100
Good luck!
Tonight I like the under. Only one first game has gone over this season and both teams are going to be playing tight. I like Sissons over 1.5 shots at +110