Mark Lammey
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Thursday night features the Game 2s for all 4 NHL playoff series that began on Tuesday night. It’s safe to say it was quite an interesting start to the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs with each road team winning. Not only that, but they were also all upsets and were won by multiple goals. It was a perfect demonstration of how the NHL postseason can be difficult to predict. Therefore, we’ve got you covered with NHL player props for tonight’s action. We’re targeting skaters who faced off against one another in last year’s Stanley Cup Final.
Along with our player props, be sure to check out all of our NHL picks for today’s action.
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Steven Stamkos over 0.5 assists (+110)
Let’s get things started with the first game of the night. The Tampa Bay Lightning vs Toronto Maple Leafs was the first series to be set for the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs, and the Leafs were listed as the clear favorites. That has since changed with the dominating performance of the Lightning, who smashed Toronto 7-3 on Tuesday night. Goaltending has held back the star-studded Leafs for several years, but they were finally stronger in that regard this year. However, the postseason is a different beast.
Allowing 7 goals was quite a surprise, but perhaps even more surprising was Steven Stamkos not being a part of any of them. That may sound like bad news for this play, but we’re not going to let one night dissuade us from backing a future Hall-of-Famer. Stamkos has elite goalscorers in Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point to dish out helpers to, which he’s been able to do consistently against the Leafs. In all 3 regular-season games against Toronto this year, Stamkos recorded an assist. Better yet, he’s had at least an assist in each of his last 6 games against the Leafs, and 9 of the last 10. With that type of track record and the dynamic talent around him, Stamkos is our featured skater of the night.
Be sure to check out our Tampa Bay Lightning vs Toronto Maple Leafs prediction
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Cale Makar over 0.5 assists (-120)
As mentioned, we’re focused on a skater that Stamkos faced in the Stanley Cup Final last season. Unlike the Lightning’s strong start, the Colorado Avalanche were shocked on Tuesday night. The Seattle Kraken, who are in just their 2nd season as a franchise, upset the Avs 3-1. Worse yet, it came on home ice for Colorado. Superstars Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen contributed to their lone goal, but we’re focused on Makar on Thursday night.
He missed some time at the end of the regular season to get healthy, but he still had a whopping 25:58 minutes of ice time in Game 1, so we’re not concerned in that regard. He’s last year’s Norris Trophy winner for the NHL’s best defenseman and set a franchise record for points in a season by a D-man. So, like Stamkos, we’re not going to let one off-night deter us from trusting the youngster. When these teams met just a month ago, Makar notched an assist. He also had 66 points in 60 games this year, with 49 of them coming by way of the assist. With MacKinnon and Rantanen on the ice, Makar should have another in Game 2.
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