The NHL Playoffs Are Coming

The field is nearly set for the NHL playoffs, as the league will be returning to its normal playoff format -- eight teams from the Eastern Conference and eight teams from the Western Conference. The regular season ends on Friday, April 29th, with the playoffs starting on Monday, May 2nd, but many teams have already locked up a spot 🤝

• The East is complete, as the Panthers, Maple Leafs, Hurricanes, Rangers, Lightning, Bruins, Penguins and Capitals have all clinched a playoff berth

• Out West, however, there's still four spots up for grabs -- only the Avalanche, Flames, Wild and Blues are in. Teams 5-10 are all separated by 9 points with 4-5 games remaining for each team

Since we're approaching the final days of the regular season, it's only right for us to take a quick look at Stanley Cup odds 👇

Odds To Win The Stanley Cup

• Colorado Avalanche: +350 (bet $100, win $350)

• Florida Panthers: +550

• Calgary Flames & Toronto Maple Leafs: +900

• Tampa Bay Lightning: +1100

• Carolina Hurricanes: +1200

The Avalanche and Panthers both sit atop of their conference with 116 points and crazy 55-15/16-6 records. While Edmonton's Connor McDavid leads the NHL in total points, only one player checks in top-5 in both total points and goals scored 👀

• The Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews, who leads the NHL in goals (58) and ranks fifth in points (102), is the guy to keep an eye on heading into the playoffs 

Tonight, we're watching the Eastern Conference, as teams fight for Home Ice in the final games of the regular season 🏒

Bruins vs. Penguins Preview

The Bruins (6th in East) and Penguins (7th in East) have both clinched a playoff berth, so all that's left is positioning. These two teams have split the season series (1-1), with the Bruins winning their most recent matchup on April 16th, 2-1 

Bruins vs. Penguins Betting Odds (subject to change)

• Spread: Penguins -1.5

• Moneyline: Bruins +100 (bet $100, win $100), Penguins -125 (bet $125, win $100)

• Over/Under: 6

Knowing how good Boston and Pittsburgh have been this year, each winning 40+ games, it's interesting to see that neither team has a player ranked in the top-20 in total points

• Sidney Crosby, PIT (80 pts, No. 21)

• Jake Guentzel, PIT (78 pts, No. 22)

• Brad Marchand, BOS (73 pts, No. 37)

• David Pastrnak, BOS (71 pts, No. 42)

Tweets like this make me want to ride with the favorites as the season winds down, but I'm not going to do that today. Boston has the better record, is on a two-game win streak, and won their last meeting vs. Pittsburgh. Give me the road underdog 🙏

Rangers vs. Islanders Preview

Another fun game tonight is the New York rivalry, as the Rangers will travel to the brand new UBS Arena (check this out) to take on the Islanders, who will miss the playoffs this year. Although NYR is a scorching 50-21-6 this season, they've lost to the Islanders in two of their three matchups 🤔

Rangers vs. Islanders Betting Odds 

• Spread: Rangers -1.5

• Moneyline: Rangers -130, Islanders +110

• Over/Under: 5.5

The Rangers have won three games in a row, and six of their last seven, thanks to their elite winger Chris Kreider ⭐️

• Last week, Kreider reached the 50-goal mark, becoming just the fourth player in Rangers history to score 50 goals in a single season

• He also became the eighth player in NHL history to reach the 50-goal milestone for the first time in his 10th season or later

• It wasn't Kreider, but peep this NASTY goal from this past weekend 😳

On the other hand, the Islanders have put together a disappointing year after back-to-back Conference Finals runs in 2020 and 2021. They lost both of those series to the Tampa Bay Lightning, who have won two Stanley Cups in a row

• With Kreider's goal-scoring mastery and playoff positioning on the line, I think the Rangers will be too much for the Islanders to handle tonight 😈

For My Parlay Gurus

What have you done for me lately? That's the question I'm posing with these two late-season NHL matchups. I'm banking on Ws from the Bruins, who just beat the Penguins a few days ago, and the Rangers, who are on a 3-game win streak. Peep the parlay I'm going with tonight 👇

• Bruins ML @ Penguins: +100

• Rangers ML @ Islanders: -130

$100 on this bet would win you $254 — if we hit, make sure you email [email protected] for a chance to win up to $100*. Many will enter, only some will win 😉

Want more betting content from Overtime? Check out Even The Odds on Twitter 🤑

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