Ryan Hodges
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The time has finally arrived! Welcome to the NHL Playoffs- arguably the best playoffs in North American professional sports. It’s subjective. But, come on. Fans are in for a treat as the Eastern Conference is just loaded with talented teams. The Western Conference has the best player on the planet, the reigning Stanley Cup Champion, and the two most recent expansion franchises. Monday is a great playoff opening night slate that will kick off a memorable postseason.
We appreciate you coming to Pickswise for insights on what was a fantastic 2022-23 NHL campaign. We will keep the content coming for the playoffs, so continue checking us out for more insight on the higher stakes games! If you’re looking to combine a few plays that have value, check out this NHL mega parlay that has +971 odds with DraftKings Sportsbook.
New York Islanders win and game total under 5.5 (+290) vs Carolina Hurricanes
Florida Panthers vs Boston Bruins over 6 (-125)
Edmonton Oilers win (-190) vs Los Angeles Kings
NHL parlay odds: +971
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New York Islanders win and game total under 5.5 (+290) vs Carolina Hurricanes
The Islanders have a decent chance to win this series despite being a wildcard team that just barely made the playoffs. Carolina was good down the stretch but not great. New York has had to play playoff-style hockey for months now as they vied with several teams for their wildcard spot. They enter the postseason having won 5 out of their last 8 games. The Hurricanes have struggled a bit with consistency in their past few weeks as they ended the season 6-6-1 in their final 13 games. That is not going to get it done in the playoffs if they don’t clean up a few issues leading to that inconsistency. The Islanders are more than just a pesky team. They are playing good hockey at a good time of year and will look to keep the intensity going as they try to upset a division winner.
These teams are very similar in terms of possessing a team strength of goal prevention and a team weakness of goal scoring. With that, this has the makings of a low-scoring series. The combined over-under records of the Islanders and Hurricanes during the regular season were 70-87-7. To replicate this game, Carolina’s home over-under record combined with New York’s road over-under record was 36-42-4. The total has gone under in 8 of the Hurricanes’ last 10 games, as well as in 4 of their last 5 at home. These teams will lean on what makes them successful. For both of them, that means smothering the opponent and minimizing high percentage chances. The under will be a good play.
Make sure to check out our full analysis of Monday night’s slate.
Florida Panthers vs Boston Bruins over 6 (-125)
The over was very prominent in the Panthers’ regular season. High totals are what happens when a team can score goals in bunches but generally struggles to prevent them. That combination of strengths and weaknesses is why Florida struggled to be consistent this season and also why the over was 43-31-8 on their season. The Panthers kept things together enough down the stretch to lock up that final wildcard spot, so they enter the postseason in pretty strong form. Florida is another team that has been playing playoff-style hockey for upwards of months now as they chased a wildcard spot. It will not be surprising if the Bruins wrap this series up with efficiency, but the Panthers will not make it easy on the Bruins. If Florida is going to have a chance, it will likely be because they are leaning on their strength which is goal-scoring.
The Panthers’ overs trends held true on the road as their over-under record away from the friendly confines was 20-15-6. Florida’s over trends nicely complements that of Boston lately. The total has gone over in 5 of the Bruins’ last 7 games and in all 4 matchups against the Panthers this season. In those 4 head-to-head games, these teams scored a total of 32 goals for an average of 8.00 goals scored per game. Florida and Boston split the season series 2-2. The Bruins finished the season with the NHL’s best goal prevention, but when they play the Panthers, totals climb.
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Edmonton Oilers win (-190) vsLos Angeles Kings
With -190 odds, this is not exactly going out on a limb. If you’re going to play this game individually, the +140 for the Oilers -1.5 is solid value. But as part of a parlay with nearly 10-1 odds, this Edmonton outright play could very well bring it home. The Oilers are arguably the hottest team coming into the playoffs which is saying something considering the historic season the Bruins had. The Oilers may very well be the best team in the Western Conference. They played fantastic in the second half of this season, and they sprinted through the finish line with 9 consecutive wins. With just 1 regulation loss since March 11, the Oilers are 14-0-1 in their last 15 games. Armed with the best player on the planet and a very good supporting cast, Edmonton is for real this time.
To reiterate some notes from our playoff preview, the Kings are obviously a good team. This just has more to do with the Oilers’ domination and their clicking at the right time. Historically when the Oilers were successful, it was by winning high-scoring games as they have not usually had very good goal prevention. But they ended the season allowing 2 goals in just 1 of their final 7 games. The other 6 games were either shutouts or 1-goal allowed performances. The Oilers will give the Kings all they can handle beginning with a tone-setting win in game 1. Rogers Place will be buzzing as it looks like this just might be the Oilers’ time.
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