Friday night may just be the best night of hockey this young postseason. The 3 games on tap are all potential series close-out games, and are some of the best series’ of this first round. The action begins at 7 PM ET between the Lightning and Canadiens, followed by Sabres vs Bruins at 7:30 PM ET, and capped off by arguably the best series of the round between the Golden Knights and Mammoth at 10PM ET.
If you will be tuning in and want to have some action, I have picked out my 3 NHL best bets for the playoff slate on Friday, May 1, with lines and odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook at the time of publishing. Also, be sure to check out our NHL predictions for all 3 games tonight and EVERY game throughout the playoffs.
NHL best bet: Jakub Dobes over saves made 24.5 (-105)
The Lightning will be in desperation mode on Friday. Although their backs are against the wall, this is an experienced team that will stay composed. Tampa is loaded with experienced, veteran winning players and coaches. They know that in a game like this, less is more. The Lightning game plan should look to simplify. When teams simplify, a key component of a game plan is getting pucks on net and driving traffic. Tampa has logged an average of 26.8 shots per game in this series, and will push for more than that for their playoff lives in game 6.
This has been a low scoring series in which both goalies have played well. In his second postseason, Canadiens goaltender Jakub Dobes has answered the call against a Lightning team that has a fantastic pedigree. Including the regular season and playoffs, Dobes is now 5-2-2 against Tampa. Last game, the Lightning peppered him with 40 shots on goal in regulation. They just couldn’t solve him. Now Dobes has the home crowd behind him in a game he enters in good form and seeing the puck well. While this still could be another low scoring game and Tampa could win, taking Dobes to save more than 24.5 shots should be a reliable play. The Lightning will be peppering him with shots again, will be desperate to generate offense, and Dobes is in strong form.
NHL best bet: Pavel Zacha over 0.5 points (-125)
The Bruins bounced back from an ugly, ugly game 4 with a great game 5. This team entered Buffalo on a mission to keep their season alive. They outshot and outhit the Sabres, had more blocked shots, and more takeaways. Ultimately, Boston outscored Buffalo too and kept their season alive. The Bruins now have a statement to make at home after their worst home playoff performance in decades. While this is not a Bruins line pick, it illustrates the urgency the Bruins will have on Friday after they looked to have figured things out on Wednesday.
In a win or go home game which will see the Bruins’ best effort, or at least should, their top players will be leaned on heavily. Being the center on Boston’s top line and top power play, Pavel Zacha certainly qualifies as a top player on their team. Zacha had 30 goals and 65 points to go along with a +4 rating. It was the best season of his career from a production standpoint, and he further solidified himself as an important player on this team. The team celebration on the ice after David Pastrnak’s overtime game winner in game 5 was enthusiastic to say the least. This team has new energy and more motivation than prior to give their fans something to root for. The Bruins will come out with some extra jam, and their top players will be leaned on to push for a game 7. Zacha has a great chance to be part of the action on Friday.
NHL best bet: Golden Knights vs Mammoth over 5.5 (-122)
This series has been just phenomenal. The games have been separated by a goal in 3 of the games, by 2 goals in 2 of the games, and has gone beyond regulation in the last 2 games. Oh yeah, they also have largely been high-scoring games. Games 3 and 4 each ended in a final score of 5-4. With that, the over has now hit in 4 out of the 5 games played in this series as the average game total has been 7.0 goals. In addition to the high totals head to head, the overs trends have been rolling longer for the Mammoth specifically. The total has gone over in 6 out of their last 7 games, as well as in 8 out of their last 10 games played at home.
The top players for each team have showed up in this series. While the goalies would like to tighten things up, the best skaters in this series are playing as such. Vegas has 7 players with at least 4 points in the 5 games played, led by Jack Eichel who has 8 points. Utah also has 7 players with at least 4 points and 3 players averaging a point per game. There are no surprises either of role players stepping up their games. It is the best players on these teams going shot for shot driving up these scores in high leverage situations. The way this series has gone, there has been no indication that any other result can be expected than a high score. The productive players are playing too well and the trends have all favored the overs.
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