NHL Best Bets

I hope everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend. If you follow me on X (@jlazzy23), you would have seen that my 3-leg same-game parlay for Game Three of the Dallas Stars and Edmonton Oilers hit last night, so we are staying hot in the Conference Finals. Let’s look to tonight’s NHL best bets.

The Florida Panthers look for redemption as they let a great opportunity to take a 2-1 series lead slip away. The Panthers had 41 shot attempts in the third period, to which the New York Rangers only had 10. Igor Shesterkin came up huge in goal for New York and tonight, he will most likely have to again.

 

NY Rangers at Florida (-166, 5.5)

After a game like the last one, which had a 5-4 final tally, it can be expected that both the Florida Panthers and New York Rangers will tighten things up defensively. 

Igor Shesterkin’s numbers might not look so great, as he skated to a .892 save percentage and allowed four goals against on 37 shots faced, but the timely saves that he made were unbelievable, and it is something that he can certainly build off of going into this game tonight. 

In this series, Shesterkin is boasting a .933 save percentage with a 2.13 goals against average and has faced a total of 90 shots. Sergei Bobrovsky hasn’t necessarily been challenged as much, but his numbers are solid. Bobrovsky has a .909 save percentage with a 2.11 goals against average and has faced 77 shots. 

The first period in tonight’s game will be very telling. As we saw in Game Three, the opening frame was completely chaotic, and I am expecting somewhat of the opposite for Game Four. The first-period total has only gone under in one of the opening three games, and tonight feels like one of those games where it will be more locked in from the start on both sides. 

There’s going to be a ton of emotion in this game as the Panthers have their backs against the wall for essentially the first time in these playoffs, but ultimately tonight will come down to Shesterkin and Bobrovsky. 

One thing specifically to note in this series is the lack of production on the Rangers’ power play. New York has gone 0/8 thus far, and a lot of credit deserves to be given to the Panthers for how well they’re executing the penalty kill. On the flip side, despite the fact that the Rangers got a shorthanded goal from Barclay Goodrow, they still need to clean up their penalty kill a bit. The Panthers have converted on 3/11 attempts in this series, and if New York can stay a little more disciplined, it would have an immense impact on the flow of the game. 

I’m anticipating a much better defensive game this evening with the stellar goaltending from both men in net. 

NHL Best Bet(s): Under 1.5 in the first period -120 (play to -130) | Under 5.5 -120 (play to -130) | Igor Shesterkin over 29.5 saves -110 (play to -125)

May Record: 32-22 (+9.22 units)

2023-24 record: 185–173 (-19.47 units)

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