Tyler’s Hockey Corner - Playoffs - Round 3: Conference Finals breakdown/predictions

[Tylerc96]

What’s up Casino Grounds - I’m back! Sorry for the hiatus, but this years NHL playoffs have been insane to say the least. We’ve won and lost a few so far, but are looking to rob the books over the course of the last 2 rounds. Today we will look at both series, talk about the keys for each team, and who I think will win. At the end I will also give my game one bets, but keep in mind I won’t lock them in until the day of each game - a lot can change in a couple of days and we are looking for max value. Additionally, remember the rules: 1) I’m not a psychic - I am going to have good and bad picks - take them if you like them, fade them if you don’t, but make sure you stay within your means and gamble responsibly; 2) this is a discussion - there are no bad takes, so please make sure to tell me your thoughts and picks so we can discuss in the comments; 3) let’s make some money! With that…..Let’s get into the series’ 

 

Western Conference Finals: Dallas vs. Vegas 

This should be a solid series! Both teams have been competitive in the playoffs so far (obviously), more importantly they have both led their divisions throughout the year. This year the Stars and Golden Knights have played each other 3 times - in all 3 games the Dallas Stars have come out on top. Two of these games were extremely close and ended in overtime, with the other game being a 4-0 blowout (I did not read into injuries of this game, but chances are Vegas was hurt). The Stars are healthy coming into this series with no truly major injuries, where as the Golden Knights have their 2 top goaltenders out. This is the main reason I can see the Stars winning the series, as the Stars goaltender has been hot all year. Vegas is a solid team nonetheless - their forward core is built for a cup run, any line can score at any given time. They have also been to 4 conference finals in their 6 years of being a team (pretty good if you ask me) - so they have the experience. If the Stars can have solid defense early in the series, I believe the Stars could close this out in 6 games, if not this series goes to 7 and could see Vegas taking it. 

My Prediction: Stars in 6 games (+475 - full series) *Sorry Hampe and Kim😂*

Eastern Conference Finals: Florida vs. Carolina

I’m quite surprised to see both of these teams in the conference finals, candidly. There were some tough teams for them to play through, so they have earned it to say the least! During the season, these teams played each other 3 times with the Hurricanes winning 2 and Florida winning one. None of these games were particularly close, but the common theme I noticed is there were not a lot of goals scored in the early season games. The outlier was a 6-4 Carolina win in April, which by then the Hurricanes had already clinched a playoff spot and the Panthers were in the hunt. The other 2 games were under 5 total goals (I will probably lean under during this series). The Panthers have a really feisty team with an unbelievable forecheck -this is where I see the Panthers taking the series - along side of their stud goalie who played really well against Toronto. The Hurricanes are not out of it by any means though - they have battled injuries all playoff long and there are whispers of one of their top forwards coming back for this series. 
 

My prediction: Florida in 6 (+475 - full series)

 

Game 1 bet slip:

-Dallas is terrible in game 1 normally, and will be in Vegas. I tend to lean Vegas ML here (-130). But as a Stars fan I can’t bet against my team - Stars ML (+110)*  - if you want to risk it for value (like me) that’s my pick. Safe pick is Vegas ML in my opinion.

-Florida ML (+120) - Florida’s offensive pressure + goaltending helps me lean this way. I also like the under 5.5 total goals for (-115)

 

As always, let me know what you guys think! Let’s make some money!

 

[Knobbo88]

Love the detail and effort you put into these posts 🙂