Ryan Hodges
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Tuesday night brings a pivotal NHL Playoffs slate with all 4 series deadlocked at 2-2. Every team that needed a win on Sunday got it but the same cannot be said for Monday’s slate. Come Wednesday morning, there are going to be teams smelling blood in the water anxious to clinch. If you’re a fan of any of these teams, get your best superstitions ready. If you’re not a fan of any of these teams, enjoy watching with a lower heart rate. Either way, great hockey will be consumed and what better way to jazz up the night than with some bets?
If you are looking to combine some picks from these games, check out these three parlay picks that have +1163 odds on DraftKings Sportsbook.
Tampa Bay Lightning ML (+100)
Blues vs Wild Over 7 (+165)
Edmonton Oilers -1.5 (+115)
Parlay odds: +1039
Tampa Bay Lightning ML (+100) over Toronto Maple Leafs
The trend in this series seems to be that there is no trend. Each game, one team dominates while the other seemingly mails it in. No game has been close and no team has been able to string together good efforts in consecutive games. At this rate, the Leafs will take the series in Game 7 with a 5-goal win. But of all the other 14 teams in these playoffs, if there is 1 team with playoff pedigree that will get the train back on the tracks, it’s the defending back-to-back Stanley Cup-winning Lightning. With all due respect to Toronto, Tampa has better leadership, is better coached and is more experienced. They’ll look to take control of the series in Game 5.
Tampa has better special teams numbers than Toronto through 4 games. Toronto has been the most penalized team in the playoffs so far with 32 penalties taken. If Tampa can clean it up 5-on-5 and continue to be better on special teams, they will give themselves a better chance. The Lightning make game-over-game adjustments arguably better than any team in the NHL. They are 16-0 in playoff games following a loss since 2020. It looks like adjustments were made in game 4 and they’ll look to keep those consistent to take the rest of the series.
Be sure to check out our full game preview for Tampa Bay Lightning vs Toronto Maple Leafs
St. Louis Blues vs Minnesota Wild Over 7 in Regulation (+165)
The Blues staved off Minnesota on Sunday for a solid win. Indications are St. Louis may get Nick Leddy and Robert Bortuzzo back. If not both, they will take either as their back end is very depleted. Torey Krug is out for “some time” according to Craig Berube, Marco Scandella returned to the lineup obviously not 100% healthy, and now Leddy and Bortuzzo are hopefuls but also not 100% healthy. Minnesota’s forwards are too big, physical, and fast for this Blues defense to withstand much more abuse. The Wild will come out licking their chops to forecheck hard and throw everything to the net.
If the Wild can successfully overwhelm the Blues’ back end and goaltending like they did in games 2 and 3, St. Louis’ offense and special teams will just have to keep up if they are going to have a chance to win. The ice has opened up in this series and this pivotal game should see plenty of offensive chances taken. The Blues and Wild scored the 3rd and 5th-most goals per game respectively in the NHL during the regular season. Neither team particularly excelled in goal prevention. Both teams are successful when they score as opposed to containing the opposition. If any teams can bring a high total, it’s St. Louis and Minnesota.
Be sure to check out our full game preview for St. Louis Blues vs Minnesota Wild
Edmonton Oilers -1.5 (+115) over Los Angeles Kings
Game 4 was an outlier for the series as the Kings shutout the Oilers. Even getting shutout 4-0 on Sunday night, the Oilers still have the 3rd-most goals in the playoffs, 4th-fewest goals allowed, 2nd-best power play and 2nd-best penalty kill. They return home for Game 5 and it’s worth noting that the last time they were here, in Game 2, they scored 8 goals after shaking off some Game 1 jitters. The Kings played great in Game 4 and all the Oilers can do is tip their cap and move on. They will have a short memory and come out buzzing on Tuesday night.
Edmonton took 3 out of 4 head-to-head games in the regular season and have outscored LA 17-10 in the playoffs. They have shown they are a bad matchup for the Kings despite the Kings being pesky. It’s also rare that Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl get blanked for a single game let alone consecutive games. The Kings can only keep those guys so quiet for so long. They will look to break out in game 5, run up the score once again, and take control of the series.
Be sure to check out our full game preview for Edmonton Oilers vs Los Angeles Kings
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