Top NHL Playoffs Betting Odds & Picks for Monday, May 23 (2022)
Game 4 is set to get underway in the Second Round of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs for two different matchups on Monday, with some great betting angles to attack. Below, I give out my two best bets for Monday’s games.
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.
Bet $10, Win $200 if Either Team Scores a Goal >>
Florida Panthers (+100) @ Tampa Bay Lightning (-120), o/u 6.5 (+100/-120)
The Tampa Bay Lightning look to complete the sweep as they host the Florida Panthers in Game 4 following Sunday’s dominating 5-1 win. While It is strange that we have a back-to-back in the playoffs, that will not deter me from taking the Lightning once again to complete the sweep.
Hitting this bet in both Games 2 and 3, I am going back to the well as Tampa Bay has yet to fail us in this series. Dating back to Game 6 of the First Round against Toronto, Tampa Bay has now won five straight games.
During this five-game win streak, starting goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy has reminded everyone that he is the best goaltender in the world as he boasts a 0.959 save percentage and 1.32 goals against average. Meanwhile, Panthers starting goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky has struggled mightily against Tampa Bay not only in this series but all year long.
Over his five appearances against the Lightning between both the regular and postseason, Bobrovsky possesses a mere 0.891 save percentage. Not only is facing a 3-0 deficit incredibly deflating in any playoff series, but playing on the road in these circumstances against a team of Tampa Bay’s caliber is nearly impossible.
Best Bet: Tampa Bay Lightning ML (-120)
Colorado Avalanche (-160) @ St. Louis Blues (+140), o/u 6.5 (-115/-105)
The St. Louis Blues will look to even up the series at 2-2 as they host the Colorado Avalanche following Saturday’s 5-2 loss. The big storyline from Game 3 was the injury to Blues starting goaltender Jordan Binnington, who has already been ruled out for the rest of this series.
Without Binnington, this St. Louis team is in a lot of trouble. Since taking over the starting role after Game 3 in the First Round against Minnesota, Binnington went 4-1 in the playoffs with a 0.949 save percentage and 1.72 goals against average.
On the other hand, Blues goaltender Ville Husso is just 1-3 with a 0.891 save percentage and 3.38 goals against average. Over his three appearances against Colorado this season, Husso possesses a mere 0.859 save percentage.
With Binnington single-handedly keeping St. Louis afloat in this series, Colorado will most likely run away with the rest of the round. Looking at five-on-five, St. Louis has been no match for Colorado as the Avalanche rank higher than them in both xGA and xGF per 60 minutes.
Colorado has been generating high-danger scoring chances at will in this series, and even though Husso is a good goaltender, he will not be able to tame the Avalanche offense as much as Binnington did. With that being said, I think Colorado will finish this series in a similar manner to how they looked against Nashville in Round One.
Best Bet: Colorado Avalanche -1.5 (+150)
Best of luck!
Whether you’re new to sports betting or a betting pro, our Sports Betting Strategy and Advice page is for you. You can get started with our 101 section — including 10 Sports Betting Tips for Beginners — or head to more advanced strategy — like Key Numbers When Betting Against the Spread — to learn more.
Tony Sartori is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Tony, check out his archive and follow him @tony_sartori.