NHL Stanley Cup round-robin action continues with two games on Saturday. SI Gambling analyst Roy Larking breaks down his NHL playoff best bets.
Teams that finished with the top four regular season win percentages earned an automatic berth into the quarterfinal round in both conferences. Two round-robin tournaments are being played to determine the top seeds for the remaining playoff series in each conference. There is a battle for the No 1 seed on both sides as Philadelphia and Tampa Bay will fight it out in the East while Vegas and Colorado clash in the West. This is a great end to the round-robin series.
Colorado vs. Vegas – August 8 at 3:00 PM ET
Colorado and Vegas both defeated Dallas and St. Louis to earn four points to date in the Western Conference round-robin series. If the Avalanche win - Colorado will be the No. 1 seed in the West. The Avalanche defeated St. Louis (2-1) and Dallas (4-0) and seven Colorado players have two points during the first two games. Expect a strong effort from the Avalanche offense. Philipp Grubauer made 31 saves in the win over the Blues. Pavel Francouz made 27 saves in the shutout win over the Stars.
Powered by their offense, Vegas defeated Dallas (5-3) and St. Louis (6-4) during their first two round-robin games. Mark Stone (2 G, 2 A), Alex Tuch (2 G, 1 A) and Nate Schmidt (1 G, 2 A) lead the Golden Knights scoring attack and 15 players have posted at least one point. Robin Lehner allowed 3 goals on 27 shots in the win over the Stars. Marc-Andre Fleury allowed 4 goals on 17 shots in the win against the Blues. The Avalanche won 6-1 and 7-3 on the road in Las Vegas during two regular season meetings. I am betting OVER on the game total.
West Round Robin Pick: OVER 5.5 Goals (-125)
Tampa Bay vs. Philadelphia – August 8 at 8:00 PM ET
Philadelphia and Tampa Bay both defeated St. Louis and Boston to earn four points during the East round-robin series to date. If the Lightning win - Tampa Bay will be the No. 1 seed in the East. The Lightning defeated Boston (3-2) and Washington (3-2 SO) during their first two games. Alex Killorn, Tyler Johnson, Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point lead the Lightning offense with two points each. Andrei Vasilevskiy (1.92 GGA) has been sharp in goal for Tampa Bay stopping 56 of 60 shots during two starts.
Philadelphia has victories over Washington (3-1) and Boston (4-1) and if the Flyers win they earn the top seed in the East. Michael Raffl has a goal and an assist for Philadelphia who have another seven players with one point each. Brian Elliot faced 17 shots and made 16 saves against the Capitals in the Flyers first game. Rookie Carter Hart was brilliant as he stopped 34 of 35 shots in the win over Boston. Tampa Bay won both regular season meetings 5-3 in Philadelphia and 1-0 at home. Bet on the Bolts moneyline price.
East Round Robin Pick: Tampa Bay Lightning (-140)
