The 2 best words in sports: Game 7. That’s what awaits us on Sunday night when the Montreal Canadiens battle the Tampa Bay Lightning in the deciding game of their first round series. It’s been a wild back-and-forth series thus far, and Game 7 is sure to deliver plenty of fireworks. To make Sunday’s slate even better, we are also treated to Game 1 between the Minnesota Wild and Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference semifinals. Both games are must-watch television for all hockey fans.
If you will be following along and want some action, I have picked out my 3 NHL best bets with lines and odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook at the time of publishing. In addition, don’t forget to check out all of our NHL predictions for every game throughout the Stanley Cup Playoffs, including both games on today’s schedule.
NHL best bet: Montreal Canadiens ML over Tampa Bay Lightning (+136)
The first round series between the Canadiens and Lightning has been extremely evenly-matched, so it only makes sense that we have a Game 7 on our hands. Along with the series being tied 3-3, the cumulative score in this series is 14-14. All 6 games have been decided by just a single goal, and 4 have needed overtime. It’s been about as close as it can get, which puts the value in this matchup on the visiting Canadiens.
Tampa Bay has the home ice advantage, but with moneyline odds of -162 on DraftKings, the juice may not be worth the squeeze. Montreal has shown that they aren’t phased by Tampa’s postseason experience, and they have already won 2 of the 3 games on the road at Benchmark International Arena. Montreal’s power play has also been a bit more effective, converting at a 20.8% clip compared to Tampa’s 15.4%. With odds of +136 on the moneyline, the Canadiens are the team to back in Game 7.
NHL best bet: Montreal Canadiens vs Tampa Bay Lightning Under 5.5 (-166)
Generally speaking, goals tend to be at a premium in winner-take-all Game 7’s. Both teams tend to be a bit more conservative on each end of the ice, as they want to remain as structured as possible in an effort to avoid giving up odd-man rushes. In addition, both teams tend to be a bit more physical and looking to make life as difficult as possible on the opposing team. All 4 games in this series have been of the lower-scoring variety. Game 1 saw a total of 7 goals scored, while each of the last 5 games have all featured 5 goals or fewer. With that in mind, it would be quite surprising to see things open up all of a sudden in Game 7.
Furthermore, both Andrei Vasilevskiy and Jakub Dobes are locked in between the pipes right now. Vasilevskiy is coming off a 30-save shutout performance in Game 6, and he has the postseason pedigree to warrant plenty of confidence in this one. Dobes has been fantastic in his own right, as he owns a stellar .916 save percentage to go along with a 2.19 goals-against average in this series. In what should be a defense-focused game with strong goaltending on both ends, look to the under.
NHL best bet: Minnesota Wild vs Colorado Avalanche Over 5.5 (-130)
A heavyweight fight is in store for Sunday night as the Wild take on the Avalanche in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals. The Avalanache breezed past the Kings in the first round, as they swept the series and held Los Angeles to just 1.25 goals per game. However, Minnesota’s elite offensive attack presents a much tougher challenge. The Wild scored 3.83 goals per game in the first round, which was the 2nd-highest average of any playoff team. Minnesota was able to find plenty of offensive success against a strong Dallas team, and they should be able to give Colorado some issues.
The Avalanche got off to a relatively slow offensive start in their first round matchup, scoring just 2 goals each over the first 2 games. However, they were able to find their stride and scored 9 total goals in Games 3 and 4. Both of these teams play with elite speed and skill in the offensive zone, so the pace in this one could be off the charts. Minnesota and Colorado met 4 times during the regular season, at and least 5 goals were scored in each game with an average of 5.75 goals per game in those matchups. With a total of 5.5, look to the over.
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