Hockey Playoffs Round 2

Welcome to round 2! What an exciting first round of the playoffs it was. We had tons of game 7s (5 to be exact), 2 OT in game 7 (but not many otherwise) and back and forth games in almost every series. This round, there are a lot of familiar faces for round 2, but we have some new faces as well (no, not the Leafs, sorry Toronto). I have a lot of burning questions that I need answered, like if Nathan MacKinnon will disappear this round again. Will Connor McDavid finally lay to rest the talk about him being a choke artist? What will the Flames do next after ousting perhaps the hottest goalie in the entire playoffs through round 1? What do the Panthers respond with now that they have won a series for the first time in over 2 decades? Let's find out:

West Playoff Matchups

Colorado vs St Louis

Predicted Winner: Colorado wins 4-1

Bets taken: None

Consider this: Ryan O' Reilly and David Perron are 2 Blues I would continue to bet on most nights if their lines are good. I would probably avoid any shot props though for the Blues (unless taking unders). There are really no good shooters against the Avs in the last 2-3 years. For points, Nathan MacKinnon SHOULD BE automatic most nights, but I doubt you are going to see any favorable lines for him unless you do over 1.5 points / ATG goal / over 0.5 assists. Andre Burakovsky is an interesting Av to bet on, as he has 14 points in his last 15 regular season meetings against the Blues. Do temper expectations though, as he was rather quiet during last year's series with 1 point in 4 games. Despite being big underdogs, there is a fairly good chance that the Blues win one game at home during games 3 and 4, as they are an excellent team with the crowd's advantage.

Series Analysis: Last year, the Avalanche demolished St. Louis (and Nazem Kadri did too, unfortunately with a reckless elbow). The retribution for Kadri was already paid during the first match-up of the regular season, but he is going to be a thorn in the side of the Blues this year again. Not much has changed for St. Louis, except the emergence of Rob Thomas and Ville Husso, with more regression for Jordan Binnington. The Avs are fed up with losing in the second round, I think they will run through the Blues fairly easily again this year. It remains to be seen what Coach Berube will do this year to stop the great play of Nate the Great. If for some reason... they do struggle a few games early on, you have to wonder if the Avs will buckle under the pressure again this year in the 2nd round.

Calgary vs Edmonton

Predicted Winner: Calgary wins 4-3

Bets taken: None

Consider this: Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid are two Oilers that are great to bet on if you manage to find a good line. However, RNH also has good history against the Flames, with 16 points in his last 15 match-ups. As for shot props, there aren't a whole lot of things that are favorable here. Just keep an eye out for the hot hand and see if it makes sense to go with anyone. One positive thing about this series, is that the teams were pretty evenly matched in the regular season. This means that Overtime is a strong possibility for at least 2 games this series. Shot props could be beneficial in this situation. On the Flames, Elias Lindholm is probably the Flame you want for goals. He has 14 against the Oilers in the last 18 matchups. Johnny Hockey is gaining confidence recently and he is a strong bet for assists and points most nights. With game lines, I would hold off betting before the game begins. Take a period or two and see how both teams are settling in. If there are loads of dangerous chances and shots in the first, you can probably feel comfortable live betting the over. The same can be said if there isn't a lot of puck movement or possession by either team and live betting the under.

Series Analysis: We got the Battle of Alberta in a playoff round! It is going to be an interesting series, but I will probably expect an even split of games that are very offensive and some that are very defensive (Mike Smith is the goalie for one of the teams, after all). I remember watching two different games this year between the teams. There was one game that had 7 goals scored by the end of the second period. And then another game was a defensive battle and both offenses seemed like they were stuck in the mud. Regardless, I think we will be pleased with this series, and it will end up being one of the most entertaining this round.

East playoff matchups

Florida vs Tampa Bay

Predicted Winner: Florida wins 4-3

Bets taken: Steven Stamkos leading goalscorer of the series (+700) - 0.5 unit

Consider this: Unfortunately, Nikita Kucherov disappointed us last series for goals. I think I'll probably avoid him this time, but I like Stamkos a lot in this series for the Bolts. Also, without Point in the lineup, someone else is going to need to step up. Ondrej Palat has reasonable success against the Panthers, and I think he will end up finding the score-sheet more often than not in the series. Alex Killorn will step up as well. For the Panthers, I like Reinhart and Giroux best for player props. However, keep Huberdeau and Barkov in the back of your mind too. Hornqvist has been a thorn in the side for the Bolts in the past, so he may be worth a small sprinkle for a goal or something like that if he is still shooting the puck and in the lineup.

Series Analysis: Florida finally makes it out of the first round! There really is no telling what can happen in this series. Keep in mind, that I am still mildly concerned with Bob's play in net. However, the Panthers have the luxury of going to Spencer Knight if they must. What's different this time around to make me feel comfortable to pick the Panthers? Claude Giroux. He is playing well in the playoffs as a supporting cast member. Remember, during the Flyers cup final run in 2010? He was just beginning to blossom into a superstar at that time. But it wasn't expected that he would carry them on his back. They had Mike Richards, Jeff Carter, Danny Briere, Scott Hartnell, Chris Pronger, and even the great Ville Leino... they were loaded. However, almost every year after that run, he would need to play beyond his means in Philly to take them deep in the playoffs. It just was not sustainable. He was unfortunately, not the franchise savior that Philly envisioned, even though he is one of their all-time greats. But he looks much more comfortable in a Panthers uniform now. I just realized that I somehow managed to make this post about the Flyers sabotaging Giroux. It always comes back to the Flyers somehow... Getting back on track, Tampa Bay is not going to 3peat without Brayden Point, if he is lost for a long portion of time. I'm torn between 6 or 7 games for the length of this series, but I will give the nod to 7 games since they are back-to-back champs. Panthers will win the battle this time though.

Carolina vs New York Rangers

Predicted Winner: New York wins 4-2

Bets Taken: Chris Kreider Head 2 Head more goals than Sebastian Aho (-115)

Consider This: The Rangers kid line (Kakko, Chytil and Lafreniere) has been performing well, and they are going to be getting good lines most nights. I would watch out for their lines dropping and maybe take a gamble if there is a good line set for one of them (like a Chytil or Lafreniere goal, for instance). Despite Artemi Panarin scoring the goal against the Penguins that sealed their fate, and probably royally screwed up their team make-up for the foreseeable future, I would probably avoid his props most nights in this series. He seems a little slower than I remember or like he was nursing an injury at the end of last round. He is also passing the puck and looking off shots way too much. Andrew Copp has impressed me and he's worth keeping an eye on. When the Rangers are getting good odds at home, I would smash the Moneyline for them, when possible. Remember, the Hurricanes lost ALL of their road games to the Bruins, and it will likely be too costly here to avoid doing it again this series. There isn't much I like for the Hurricanes player props, if I am being honest, but I would at least consider a lot of lines like shots and points when they are at home. Vincent Trocheck is a guy who gets a lot of good lines, and he has delivered in a few games for Carolina vs Boston with 6 points. Slavin is far and away a clutch performer. He actually leads all Canes in points with 8 in 7 games. He's definitely worth a unit with points on most nights. I was not impressed with Sebastian Aho last round. He only had 2 goals in the 7 game Boston series, and all of his points were at home. In the 3 away games, he had combined for 3 shots (1.0 per game), so be prepared to take his under player props during the away games of this series.

Series Analysis: Antti Raanta is playing pretty solid recently for the Hurricanes. He returns to take on his former team, the Rangers, but I doubt there is more than two or three players that he played with from that time. Overall, I think Carolina played about as well as we would expect from them without Freddie Andersen. They managed to squeak the series out, but also didn't buckle completely. I'm not hearing great things about Freddie's progress and this greatly concerns me. Igor was definitely pretty shaky in the Pens series, and he probably deserved to lose it, but was bailed out by huge scoring efforts of the Rangers. However, this time around, I think things will be a little different. Igor should play well, he's a tough cookie to solve. I'm worried about the consistency of the Canes to take them far this year against a Cinderella story. Give me the Rangers in 6, who will sweep all home games and add another.