The two games on tap for Thursday represent the final remaining series’ of the second round. The Avalanche made quick work of the Wild, and the Hurricanes made even quicker work of the Flyers. Now those teams wait for their dance partner with hopes that these series’ go 7 games, as do fans. The bridge to Friday brings an entertaining night of hockey with a couple of games you will not want to miss.
If you will be tuning in and want to have some action, I picked out my NHL best bets for Thursday, May 14, and will analyze each pick for you now. You can also get our expert NHL predictions for EVERY matchup throughout the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
NHL best bet: Canadiens vs Sabres over 5.5 and Tage Thompson over 0.5 points (+122)
The 3-2 final in game 4 was a bit of an outlier for the Sabres in terms of the game not having a lopsided number. In 10 games played this postseason, Buffalo has either scored or allowed 4+ goals in 7 of those games. In this series alone, the Sabres scored 4, then allowed 5 goals and 6 goals entering game 4. The total has gone over in 4 out of their last 6 games played at home, and with the total set at 5.5, it has a good look again. The offensive firepower in this series alone always gives the over a chance.
The over is -130 which is not fantastic value. But coupling a favorable player prop with it brings nice plus-money value. Enter Tage Thompson. Thompson leads the Sabres with 11 points in their 10 postseason games played, as well as assists with 7. He also led the Sabres during the regular season in goals with 40 and points with 81. After a quiet first 2 games of this series, he has 2 goals and 4 points in the last 2 games. Thompson averaged over 18 minutes of ice-time in games 1-2, and ticked up to 21:06 in game 3, and 19:14 in game 4. This is a guy is on the top line and top power play, shares the ice every shift with fellow strong players, is being relied on heavily and rewarding his coach for it.
NHL best bet: Ivan Barbashev over 0.5 points (-110)
If the Golden Knights are going to get to the Conference Finals and potentially beyond, they will need more contributions from Ivan Barbashev. No one knows that more than Barbashev himself. This is an experienced player who quietly has 101 career playoff games under his belt and was a key part of 2 Stanley Cup wins. In 2023 with Vegas, Barbashev had 7 goals and 18 points in 22 games to go along with a +14 rating. He played important minutes on the top line and special teams in that playoff run, and is in the same situation on this version of the Golden Knights. Barbashev is on the top line with Jack Eichel and Pavel Dorofeyev, a line which has 11 goals and 32 points in a combined 33 games played this postseason. Barbashev is also on the power play. Every time he touches the ice, it is with productive, star players with a good chance to produce.
Barbashev has been solid in these playoffs. He has just 1 point in Vegas’ last 4 games. So he needs to break a little bit of a cold streak. But he still has 3 goals and 8 points in 11 games played this postseason in nearly 18 minutes of ice-time on average. The follows a regular season in which he logged 23 goals and a career-high 61 points and +20 rating in 82 games played. This is a quintessential playoff player in that he can do a little bit of everything. He hits, scores, plays even-strength, on special teams, and is defensively responsible. He has the playoff pedigree required to be a key player on his team, has done so before, and is keen to continue being that player. Look for a strong performance from Ivan Barbashev tonight.
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