Top NHL Playoffs Betting Odds & Picks for Friday, May 27 (2022)
Game 6 is set to get underway in the Second Round of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs between the St. Louis Blues and the Colorado Avalanche. There are still a couple of great betting angles to attack despite only one game tonight.
Below, I give out my two best bets for Friday’s lone game.
These plays are one unit each, or 1% of your betting bankroll. Follow me on Twitter to get all of my plays on days without full write-ups.
Odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook
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Colorado Avalanche (-170) @ St. Louis Blues (+150)
On Wednesday, the St. Louis Blues return home, trailing 3-2 in the series after beating the Colorado Avalanche 5-4 in overtime. After successfully cashing on the Avalanche puck line on Monday, I will return to the well once again.
I believe we are getting a generous number on Colorado as the Blues completed an improbable comeback on Wednesday and now have life as they return to St. Louis. That being said, Colorado was clearly the better team in that game until they puked all over themselves in the third period.
According to MoneyPuck.com, the Avalanche would have won that game 73.9% of the time after 1000 game simulations. Colorado generated more high-danger scoring chances as they produced 3.05 expected goals for (xGF) compared to St. Louis’ 2.53.
Colorado goaltender Darcy Kuemper struggled in Game 5, and we should see some positive regression from him. Allowing five goals on just 30 shots, Kuemper produced a terrible 0.833 save percentage.
Kuemper let in some soft goals as he ended the game with -2.47 goals saved above expected (GSAx). Both of these numbers should positively regress to the mean as his series averages in both categories are much higher.
After blowing a 3-0 lead, Colorado retook the lead thanks to the individual efforts of Nathan MacKinnon before blowing that lead as well. I do not anticipate Colorado will have a meltdown like that again, and after showing they were the better team in Game 5, I expect them to bounce back and close out the series in Game 6.
Best Bet: Colorado Avalanche -1.5 (+140)
Colorado Avalanche @ St. Louis Blues, o/u 6.5 (-115/-105)
Game 5 saw nine total goals scored, which marked the third straight game that the total has gone over 6.5. This trend is not a coincidence, as St. Louis has been forced to go with backup goaltender Ville Husso in all three of those games due to the injury to starting goaltender Jordan Binnington.
I am backing this trend once again in Game 6. Husso has been horrible for the Blues in this series as he has allowed four or more goals in all three of those games, producing a mere 0.860 save percentage over that stretch.
Amongst the remaining seven starting goaltenders left in the playoffs, Husso ranks last in five-on-five GSAx per 60 minutes. This is especially troubling going against a powerhouse offense like Colorado.
Colorado ranks third in five-on-five xGF per 60 minutes of the seven remaining teams. The Avalanche should get us at least four or five goals in this game, which means we just need two or three from St. Louis.
Best Bet: Avalanche/Blues o6.5 (-115)
Best of luck!
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Tony Sartori is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Tony, check out his archive and follow him @tony_sartori.