Top NHL Betting Odds & Picks For Tuesday, May 24th (2022)
I don’t think I’ll find many disagreements — we’ve got the most boring followed by the most exciting series left in the playoffs ahead of us tonight.
First, the Carolina Hurricanes will look to steal a road game at Madison Square Garden and put the Rangers up against the ropes for the second-consecutive series. The defense corps of both teams have been suffocating, and both netminders have come to play as the Canes currently hold a 2-1 series lead.
And later, the Battle of Alberta takes center stage as the red-hot Edmonton Oilers look to take a commanding 3-1 series lead after dropping Game 1 of the series in Calgary. Connor McDavid has taken his game to yet another level — a level few before him have reached — so make sure you pour yourself a cup of coffee for some West Coast hockey.
Here are my best bets for each of the two Game 4s on tap.
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Carolina Hurricanes ML (+100; WynnBet)
WynnBet is currently the only book offering Carolina at anything better than -105. So I would play the Canes down to -110 on the moneyline if these odds dry up before you can grab them.
Something’s got to give here, right? This postseason, Carolina is 6-0 at home and 0-4 on the road. The Hurricanes are a legitimate Cup contender, but you’re not going to win a Stanley Cup if you can’t win a game away from your building — just ask the Lightning.
I think tonight is the night the Hurricanes finally get on the board on the road and take one step closer to slamming the final nails in the Rangers’ coffin. The Rangers haven’t been very good in these playoffs, but as they did all regular season, they’re relying on their Vezina Trophy-winning goaltender Igor Shesterkin to bail them out. And hey, who am I to criticize? It’s working – they’re one of the final eight teams remaining. But sooner or later, the walls are going to cave in.
New York has an expected goals percentage of 39.2% this playoff season. That’s the worst of any of the 16 qualifiers, including the Predators, who were swept by an Avalanche team who barely broke a sweat in round one. In layman’s terms — the Rangers have created just one-third of the expected goals and have allowed their opponents to pile up nearly two-thirds of them. It’s just not a sustainable model of play, especially in the playoffs. They’ve allowed 30.3 expected goals against but have only given up 23. Carolina is far too veteran and skilled of a team not to find a way to crack Shesterkin as they did in each of the first two games.
The public also seems to think the Rangers “found something†at home in their last game — but did they? Nine of the top 11 graded skaters per GameScore were Hurricanes, and each of the bottom eight graded skaters in that game were Rangers. I know the old adage says that come playoff time, you can throw the numbers out. But these numbers are far too compelling to ignore — give me the Canes to take a commanding lead before heading back to Raliegh.
Edmonton Oilers ML (-115; FanDuel)
There’s no stopping this runaway train that is the Edmonton Oilers right now. I’m not getting in front of it, that’s for sure. I’m taking the Oilers at home to win their third straight game in this series, and I’d play them all the way down to -140.
As I mentioned last week, the Flames were my pick to hoist the Cup. But, unfortunately, that pick is in serious peril right now. And let’s be candid — there is one overarching reason why the Oilers have steamrolled Calgary in the last two games, and that reason is their best player: Connor McDavid.
There has been a ton of noise from the corner of hockey Twitter who love to play contrarian for the sake of getting under everyone’s skin about McDavid losing his grip on the “Best Player in the World†title (which doesn’t actually exist, of course). I think he’s put those debates to rest. McDavid has an incredible 23 points in 10 games this playoff — good for 2.3 points per game. He also led the league in scoring with 123 in 80 games in the regular year. So if you’re keeping score at home, McDavid is averaging nearly a point per game higher in the postseason than in his award-winning regular season campaign. He’s on another level, and I’m sorry, but nobody on this planet is capable of stopping him when he’s playing like this.
I could honestly stop this handicap there, and I think most of you would be pretty satisfied and in agreement, especially if you’ve watched McDavid turn the entire Flames roster inside out over the last two games. But there’s one more reason I like the Oilers to come out with some fire (no pun intended). Flames’ forward Milan Lucic plowed over Oilers’ goaltender Mike Smith in Game 3. The score was 4-0, the game was basically over, and frankly — there was no need for it, even in the playoffs. Edmonton hasn’t forgotten it, their fans haven’t forgotten it, and it will be a huge source of motivation in this one.
Oh, and everyone’s favorite villain Evander Kane has 10 goals and two hat tricks in these playoffs. Oilers roll in this one.
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