NHL Predictions – Expert Picks on Thursday, May 15
Here are tonight’s NHL predictions:
Carolina Hurricanes (-180, 5.5) at Washington Capitals
Carolina leads series 3-1
7 p.m. ET
Will tonight be the final game this season for the Washington Capitals and Alexander Ovechkin? The Caps have no margin for error, trailing three games to one in their best-of-seven series against the Carolina Hurricanes. The Capitals players will tell you it’s one game at a time, and they are correct. Some players may draw from the fact that eight times during the regular season, they had win streaks of at least three games, so this is not uncharted territory. Washington is 4-1 at home in the playoffs. For their part, the Hurricanes had four losing streaks of at least three games during the regular season, although one of them was the final three games of the season when they were healthy-scratching their top players.
The Carolina/Washington game will mark the 13th game of the playoffs where a team can close out a series. Nine of the previous 12 games have been decided by two goals or more, and eight of the 12 have had a combined six goals or more scored in the game. Four times the team trailing in the series won the game, and three times they won the game by two or more goals. This will be the second time that each of these teams will be involved in a potential closeout game. Carolina defeated New Jersey 5-4 in double overtime while the Caps downed the Canadiens, 4-1. Only one of the four games in this series has gone Over the full game total. The first period Under has cashed in all four games, and the second period is (1-3) to the Under. The third period has been a different story. Outside of game one of this series that went Under, the Over 1.5 has cashed in Games Two through Four, and Over two goals has cashed in the past two games.
On to the player props. After being held to one shot on goal in game one against Carolina, the “Great 8” has 10 shots on goal in the past three games (3,4,3). The Canes’ Taylor Hall has had three or more shots on goal in four of the past five games.
Game Five Predictions:
Alexander Ovechkin Over 2.5 SOG/Hall Over 1.5 SOG (in regulation) parlay (+148) – 1 unit
Taylor Hall Over 2.5 SOG (+190) – .50 units
Washington Capitals -1.5 goals (+330) – .20 units
Carolina Hurricanes -1.5 goals (+152) -.20 units
Dallas Stars at Winnipeg Jets (-125, 5.5)
Dallas leads series 3-1
9:30 p.m. ET
The Winnipeg Jets find themselves on the brink of elimination as they return to the friendly confines of home and the Canada Life Centre. Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck has won five of his six starts on home ice in this year’s playoffs, compared to being 0-5 on the road. Though Hellebuyck has had far better results at home, he has still been susceptible to giving up goals. In four of the six games on home ice, he has surrendered three goals. This will be Hellebuyck’s third closeout game of the playoffs, and he is (1-1) but has given up three goals or more in each of the games.
Stars defenseman Thomas Harley has assists in back-to-back games, four points in the series, and is third on the team with nine points (three goals, six assists). Five of his six assists in the playoffs have come on the power play, including all three in this series.
The Jets’ Nikolaj Ehlers leads the team in shots on goal (17) and goals scored (three) in the series. Kyle Connor is second on the team with 16 shots on goal. Ehlers has had three or more shots on goal in three of the four games in the series and five of his six playoff games. Connor has had three or more shots on goal in three of the four games in the series. Josh Morrissey has assists in three straight and four of his last five games.
Game Five Predictions:
Thomas Harley Over ½ power play point (+300) – .10 units
Thomas Harley anytime goal (+700) – .10 units
Winnipeg Jets -1.5 goals (+198) – .20 units
Dallas Stars – 1.5 goals (+240) – .20 units
Dallas Team Total Over 2.5 (-140) – 1.5 units
Kyle Connor Over 2.5 SOG/Nikolaj Ehlers Over 2.5 SOG parlay (+158) – .25 units
Nikolaj Ehlers anytime goal (+260) – .10 units
Adam Lowry anytime goal (+460) – .10 units
Josh Morrissey Over ½ assist (+135) – .10 units
