NHL Hockey Betting: Stanley Cup Playoffs for April 23, 2016
Only three games on the board for Saturday with two teams facing possible elimination. The Pittsburgh Penguins lead the New York Rangers 3-1 while the St. Louis Blues lead the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2. The other game is game five between Nashville and Anaheim, tied at 2-2.
NEW YORK RANGERS AT PITTSBURGH PENGUINS:
Note the 3:05 PM Eastern start time for this game. Pittsburgh will try and send the New York Rangers home for the Summer as the two teams play Game 5 in the Steel City. Things are going well for the Penguins now that they have a legit starting goalie back between the pipes. That’s Matt Murray who is ridiculously good for a 21 year old rookie. The Rangers have had no answers for the Penguins in the last two games, won by Pittsburgh with a combined tally of 8-1. The Penguins are too fast and too good. With the exception of the Rangers 5-2 win in Game Two the Penguins have simply dominated, winning the other three games 13-3. As if the Penguins needed a boost the report is that starting goalie Marc-Andre Fleury is nearing a return to action.
Pittsburgh is a freight train. They’ve won 10 of their last 12 dating back to the regular season. One of the two losses was their regular season finale which Philadelphia needed to win to get into the playoffs. Since the midway point of the season they’re 33-16. Evgeni Malkin is back in the lineup and playing well. The only reason that Pittsburgh isn’t a -200 or higher favorite is the hype surrounding the New York Rangers. Pittsburgh eliminates New York.
BET PITTSBURGH PENGUINS -180 OVER NEW YORK RANGERS
ST. LOUIS BLUES AT CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS:
This series is about as evenly matched as it can get. The Blackhawks stayed alive in Game Five with a double overtime victory–the fifth one goal game of the series. Want more evenly matched? The Blackhawks have won 7 of the last 13 head to head at home. St. Louis has won 14 of the last 26 overall. Dating back to the regular season seven straight games head to head have been decided by one goal.
Chicago gets Andrew Shaw back in the lineup after the NHL washed his mouth out with soap and suspended him for one game. It’s evident that Shaw’s ‘gay slur’ is just one of those things that comes out in the heat of the moment. No one seems to think that Shaw is a bad dude or that there’s a ‘problem’ in the Hawks’ room. Both teams are 100% healthy, a rarity at this point in the season. The goaltending matchup is the same as Chicago will send Corey Crawford to oppose St. Louis’ Brian Elliott. Elliott had been in stellar form dating back to the regular season but for all of the heat he takes Crawford has been playing excellent hockey all season long. It’s easy to say that St. Louis’ team defense is ‘vastly superior’ since they ranked #4 to the Blackhawks #11 but we’re talking about 0.12 goals per game difference. I won’t be the least bit surprised if Chicago wins this game. I won’t be surprised if they win Game Seven and advance. As one St. Louis beat writer put it they’re like a zombie that gets stronger when they should be dead. In such a close series, however, the value is on St. Louis and that’s how we’re going to bet this.
BET ST. LOUIS BLUES +140 OVER CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS
NASHVILLE PREDATORS AT ANAHEIM DUCKS:
This series has been a freak show, not surprising given the erratic nature of both teams–but particularly Nashville. The Predators played the Ducks even in the first two games and managed to steal a couple of wins to go up 2-0. So they go to Smashville for Games Three and Four and the Ducks not only win both but flat out dominate. Anaheim wins two games on the Predators’ home ice by a combined score of 7-1. Much of the problem has been the erratic play of Pekka Rinne. In all honesty, the Predators didn’t play badly at home. Rinne gave up a total of 7 goals on only 46 shots. By way of contrast, the Ducks’ Frederik Anderson gave up 1 on 58 shots. The Predators have a lot working against them, not the least of which is Rinne’s erratic play. They’ll roll the dice with him again–they don’t pay him what they do to yank him for Carter Hutton at this point in the season. It’s hard to bet on or against the Predators because you never know which ‘Jeckel and Hyde’ team will show up. The ‘good Predators’ can play toe to toe with anyone in the league. The ‘bad Predators’ look like an AHL team. Don’t want to lay the price with the Ducks, but then again don’t trust the Predators enough to take the plus money. Pass.
PASS