NHL Playoff Betting Picks & Predictions for Today

By: David Lawrence

The dream of hoisting the Stanley Cup will fall through the ice tonight for two teams as the first round comes to a close. Who gets the nod as our NHL picks this evening?

Ottawa Senators vs. New York Rangers

NHL Odds: Rangers -165

The top-seeded New York Rangers have been pushed to the limit by the Ottawa Senators and they’ll have to win a seventh and deciding game if they’re to advance to the second round of the playoffs.

The Sens have gotten into the heads of the Rangers a little bit – even in a loss in Game 6. Oddly enough, the normally quiet Henrik Lundqvist spoke to the media about the officials helping the Senators with a questionable third period goal – one that didn’t have an impact on the final outcome (except for OVER/UNDER players).

The question that NHL bettors have to ask themselves is whether or not Game 6 was an aberration? It seems that when the Rangers play to their potential, they’re the better team. At the same time, the Senators have found ways to keep the heat on the Rangers in the offensive zone and keep their scoring chances down, which has worked in Ottawa’s favor. After all, the Sens have won two of the last three games. 

From a betting perspective, these two teams are relatively evenly matched – as they’ve shown through six games – and it would be tough to convince me to lay the juice with New York. This is a team that’s struggled in the face of playoff pressure before. Quite frankly, if they’re truly the top team in the Eastern Conferenceand one of the best in the NHL, they shouldn’t be stumbling with Ottawa. Could you really see the Philadelphia Flyers needing seven games to dispose of the Senators?

The Rangers don’t look as crisp as the team that dominated in the regular season. They’ve played well in spurts but haven’t been consistent enough offensively to warrant laying this type of line.

Should they win at home in Game 7? Yes. Will they win at home in Game 7? Probably. But it’s far from a guarantee and if they fall behind by a goal or the longer this game goes being close, thehome-ice advantage could turn into a disadvantage in front of the New York faithful. Make a small play on the Sens.

NHL Picks: Senators

New Jersey Devils vs. Florida Panthers

NHL Odds: Devils -120

Before this series and through the first four games of the series, my feeling was that the New Jersey Devils were the better team – when they actually made an effort – and should eventually come away with a rather easy series win. As it turns out, they’ve barely survived and now find themselves in a win-or-go-home situation with the ratty Florida Panthers in Game 7. 

The momentum has shift in this series. While the Panthers looked like they didn’t belong in the first four games – when the Devils were actually putting an effort – they actually look like they’ve warmed up the last two games. New Jersey played well for 60 minutes in Game 5 and still lost. They played well for 60 minutes in Game 6 and still needed overtime to survive. While the power play carried the Panthers early, they’ve found other ways to win without in more recent games.

The Devils have gone 28 straight playoff games without winning two straight, so be cautious laying juice on the road. At the same time, I’m not going to change the game plan. New Jersey has been the better team all season long, they have more experience than Florida and the Devils have managed to cool off the Panthers power play over the last two games (one-for-13). All of those factors should help New Jersey escape this series with a win.

The NHL lines show that the Devils are the small -118 favorite tonight, and while the Panthers do have home ice on their side, I am adding the Devild to my NHL picks tonight, and there will be no flying rats this evening.

NHL Picks: Devils