NHL Stanley Cup qualifying round action continues with a slate of six games on Wednesday. SI Gambling analyst Roy Larking breaks down his NHL playoff best bets for the day.
Somewhat overshadowed, by the intense “win or go home” best-of-five qualifying series, the top four teams in each conference are playing round robin tournaments. The results of those games will determine the top seeds for the remaining playoff rounds in the Eastern and Western conference. Here are my best bets for the Boston vs. Tampa Bay and Dallas vs. Colorado contests.
Boston Bruins vs Tampa Bay Lightning – Scotiabank Arena 4:00 PM ET
Tampa Bay opened their 2020 NHL playoff run with a 3-2 shootout win against the Washington Capitals on Monday. This one almost got away as Washington erased a 2-0 second period deficit to tie the game prior to a scoreless third period. Nikita Kucherov put the Lightning up 1-0, halfway through the first frame, and then scored the game winner during the shootout. Reigning Vezina Trophy winner Andrei Vasilevskiy was sharp for the Lightning as he stopped 31 of 33 shots.
Boston began the postseason with a 4-1 loss to Philadelphia on Sunday. The Bruins outshot the Flyers 35-29 but were without top goaltender Tuukka Rask who was deemed unfit to play due to COVID-19 concerns. Rask will be back between the pipes for this contest. Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak were held without a point. The Bruins top line will need to pick up the pace against the high-scoring Lightning. Boston is in danger of falling to the No. 4 seed.
These teams met four times during the regular season and Tampa Bay won three of those contests. The first three games were all decided by one goal and the Lightning posted a 5-3 victory in the fourth match. Tampa Bay is 10-2 against Boston over the last 12 meetings. That includes four wins during the second round of the 2018 NHL playoffs. The Lightning will be without second leading scorer Steven Stamkos for a second straight game. Bet on the Bolts moneyline price.
Pick: Tampa Bay Lightning (+100)
Dallas Stars vs. Colorado Avalanche – Rogers Place Arena 6:30 PM ET
Part of the Western Conference round robin series, Colorado and Dallas are both playing their second game of the 2020 NHL playoffs. The Avalanche posted a 2-1 win over defending Stanley Cup champion St. Louis during their first match on Sunday. Acquired in the offseason from Toronto - Nazem Kadri scored a power-play goal with just 0.1 seconds left on the clock to secure the win. Philipp Grubauer was sharp in goal for Colorado as he stopped 31 of the Blues 32 shots.
Dallas is aiming for a big rebound after they blew a 3-1 lead and lost 5-3 to Vegas in their first playoff game on Monday. The Golden Knights were up 1-0 after the first period but the Stars scored three straight goals to take a 3-1 lead after two periods. Vegas cranked up their offense and outshot the Stars 16-6 during the third frame. The Knights scored four unanswered goals with just over ten minutes left in the game. Dallas faces another high-scoring squad in this contest.
Colorado was swept 4-0 by Dallas during the regular season series but these teams haven’t met since January 14. The Stars won 2-1 and 3-2 (OT) on the road in Colorado plus 4-1 and 3-2 (SO) at home. Prior to this season, Colorado won six of the previous eight meetings against Dallas. The Avalanche have a decided edge on offense as they scored 237 goals this season while the Stars scored just 180 goals. Colorado is the favorite at FanDuel and I am laying the puck line.
Pick: Colorado Avalanche -1.5 (+220)
