NHL Playoffs: Betting Playbook For Saturday, May 14

NHL Betting Playbook for Saturday

Saturday's NHL trends are collected and ready to go. Let's take a look at what you should know before betting today's NHL playoff games. 

One trend to note is that the BetQL NHL model has gone 115-89 (56%) on all 3-star and higher NHL spread picks in the past seven days for a total return of $1,184 on $100 bets, so you'll definitely want to know who the model is picking in these awesome first-round matchups. BetQL subscribers can see more betting trends and all of our best bets, including player props, with star ratings for every game!

Game 7. Two of the greatest words in sports, and we get multiple of them in one day today. There's a lot to be excited about, and hopefully we can win you some money in the process. This series has been extremely predictable so far, with the home team winning every single game. Boston can't seem to beat Carolina at home, and Carolina can't seem to beat Boston at home. So what does this mean? It means you could go all in on Hurricanes moneyline in Game 7 because they are the home team, or maybe not do that because this is the Stanley Cup Playoffs, where anything can happen.

Still, it's hard to argue for Boston here. Carolina has absolutely crushed them at home, and there's no reason to believe that won't continue. Boston has been limited offensively in this series, averaging 18.2 scoring and 6.4 high-danger chances per game. Jeremy Swayman has been very good coming in from Game 3 onwards, as the Bruins netminder has a .913 SV% and a pretty good 2.51 ERA. He's 3-1, but again, all his wins are at home and his one loss was a 5-1 blowout defeat.

Carolina has been without its primary goaltender Frederik Andersen for this entire series. Backup Antti Raanta has proven to be a reliable force in net for the Hurricanes, with a .926 SV% and a 2.46 GAA. He's been really helped out by how much Carolina has bottled up the Boston offense. Carolina has limited Boston to 21 or fewer scoring chances at 5-on-5 in four of its last five games and five or fewer high-danger opportunities in three of its past five.

Another Game 7? We are really spoiled today, and after watching Bruins vs. Hurricanes, now we get the defending Stanley Cup champions against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Lightning held onto their incredible streak of winning after a loss in the playoffs, as they have now done that 17 consecutive times with their win in Game 6. Tampa Bay has been the best team in hockey over the last two seasons, and they have an opportunity to keep their dreams of a three-peat alive with a Game 7 win over Toronto. It would just add to the legacy of this team right now, which should already be considered a dynasty. Remember, they were in the Stanley Cup final before this run of championships began, when they lost to the Chicago Blackhawks 4-2 in 2015. Chicago was at the tail end of its dynasty at the time, and now the lightning are building their own.

Goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy has played to a -1.1 goals saved above expected rating in the series with an .880 save percentage. He's been awful, but Tampa still forced Game 7. Still, the Maple Leafs have been terrorizing the netminder all series with their brilliant offense. Toronto leads the series in expected goals with a 51.32% mark. Toronto completely blew their opportunity again to close a series out, and it seems like the franchise may be snakebitten at this point. Goaltender Jack Campbell has been virtually identical to Vasilevskiy in this series, with a -0.6 GSAx and an .895 SV%.

Regardless of the outcome here, this has been a fantastic series, and this game should be another classic to add to the collection.

ANOTHER GAME 7. Yes, we have three of them in a single day on the ice, which is literally like having Christmas morning for us hockey fans. I wish my Blackhawks were a part of it, but I guess I got my fill between 2010 and 2015. We'll be back eventually, I hope.

Our arch-rivals during those dynasty years is back in the foray, and they have taken Connor McDavid and the Oilers to seven games. The Kings were in the same predicament the Blackhawks have found themselves in, with little cap space, some young talent and aging veterans. No one thought they would be here, but here they are. Having guys like Anze Kopitar, Dustin Brown and Jonathan Quick on the roster from those glory days really helps in terms of veteran leadership, and Drew Doughty has been giving advice too while he sits with injury.

Edmonton once again has been pushed to the brink of elimination in the first-round, but this time they at least won a game with their backs to the wall. Blowout wins in Games 2 and 3 of this series have skewed the Oilers’ team stats for the series, and LA has played much better than what their stats say. Still, I've been surprised by how well Mike Smith has done overall in net. He has a .930 save percentage, 2.81 goals-against average and a playoff-leading 7.7 goals saved above expected among all goalies in the postseason. He's been absolutely peppered with shots behind a very poor defense, but has held his own for the most part.