NHL Best Bets

The hockey continues to get better each night. Tonight, we have another two-game slate with NHL Best Bet potential: the New York Rangers and Carolina Hurricanes will kick things off first, then the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars will carry us home.

The Rangers and Hurricanes series shifts to Carolina, where New York will look to take a commanding 3-0 series lead, while the Stars hope to avoid going down 2-0 in their series for the second straight time. 

 

NY Rangers  at Carolina (-170, 5.5)

The Carolina Hurricanes deserved a better outcome in Game Two. They were the better team for the majority of the night, but their inability to stay disciplined ended up costing them. The game went into double overtime, and the Hurricanes finished with 57 shots on goal. There was just one issue: Igor Shesterkin. 

Shesterkin is coming off one of his best career performances, making 54 saves and uplifting his team to a huge win on home ice. However, with this series heading to PNC Arena, I expect the Hurricanes to throw everything they can at Shesterkin. 

The overtime has given these numbers a bit of a boost, but Carolina is now generating the most shots on goal per game out of any playoff team. The Hurricanes are averaging 35.9 shots on goal per game, and they’re a perfect 3-0 on home ice in these playoffs.

Tonight will be Carolina’s most desperate effort of the entire season because this group cannot afford to go down 3-0 in this series. I’m looking at guys like Sebastian Aho, Andrei Svechnikov, Seth Jarvis and Jake Guentzel to be big factors in this game, but ultimately I think Shesterkin will shut the door again. 

NHL Best Bet: Seth Jarvis over 2.5 shots on goal +124 (play to +110) | Sebastian Aho over 2.5 shots on goal -145 (play to -160) | Igor Shesterkin over 29.5 saves -125 (play to -140)

Colorado at Dallas (-122, 6.5)

The Dallas Stars let Game One slip away. They saw their 3-0 lead vanish against the Colorado Avalanche before falling 4-3 in overtime. 

This isn’t unfamiliar territory for the Stars, considering that they lost both games on home ice to start their first-round series against the Vegas Golden Knights. Jake Oettinger wasn’t necessarily at the top of his game in Game One, but if he has shown anything throughout his career, it’s his ability to bounce back after a subpar performance. 

Alexandar Georgiev has held his own in goal for the Avalanche and has now won his last five straight starts, but his performances still haven’t been all that convincing. He is skating to a .895 save percentage with a 2.94 goals against average and a -2.4 goals saved above expected. Oettinger has been the much better goalie statistically, skating to a .915 save percentage and a 2.15 goals against average, he also has a +1.8 goals saved above expected.

Dallas needs to be desperate tonight, that’s the bottom line. They had as good of a start as they could have asked for in Game 1, now they just need to find a way to put that together for a full 60 minutes. 

Even if they haven’t been perfect at home, I trust their experience from round one to give them a boost in tonight’s game, and I have a ton of faith in Jake Oettinger. 

NHL Bet: Dallas Stars ML -122 (play to -135)

May Record: 12-6 (+5.75 units)

2023-24 record: 165–156 (-20.95 units)

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