Free NHL Eastern Conference Playoffs Picks, Best Bets, and Parlays for 5/17/22

Nothing like starting off the 2nd round of the playoffs with what might be the best series of the entire Stanley Cup playoff run. Tampa Bay and Florida are two of the best teams in the league and because of the NHL format, they are meeting in the 2nd round. The Lightning are coming off a thrilling 7-game series with Toronto and won the deciding game 2-1 in Toronto on Sunday. The Panthers have had a couple of extra days’ rest after eliminating the Capitals in 6 games. This is as good as it gets.

We cashed our Best Bet Sunday night as Calgary beat Dallas and goaltender, Jake Oettinger in overtime 3-2. Our Best Bet of the Day record is now 56-38 since the All-Star Break.

We went 2-0 betting the MoneyLine as we correctly picked the winners in both of those difficult 7th games. Our overall record is now 368-206 as the playoffs continue.

The run for the Stanley Cup continues today with 2 more games on the schedule. Let’s see what Vegas is thinking about the Tampa Bay-Florida Game 1 matchup.

Tampa Bay at Florida: The defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning head into South Florida, after a long and energy-sapping 7 game series, with an excellent Toronto team. They had to win the final 2 games to advance to Round 2 and they pulled it off like champion teams do. No one scored more than 3 goals in the 1st round as the Lightning can score on any line they roll out there. Goalie, Andrei Vasilevskiy struggled early in the series, but in Game 7, he stopped 30 out of 31 shots and was his usual stone wall when the Lightning had to have him. This team is a snake that is never beaten until it’s head is completely cut off. The Florida Panthers were the best team in the regular season finishing with 122 points. They had a tougher than expected series with the Capitals, before eliminating them in 6 closely contested games. The Panthers had to rally in the final three games after falling behind 2-1. This should give them confidence and momentum as they take on their big rivals. Carter Verhaeghe scored 6 goals and added 6 assists to lead the way in the 1st round. They are going to need Jonathan Huberdeau and Alexander Barkov to step up their game as the Capitals limited them to a combined 2 goals. Sergei Bobrovsky was, good but not great in goal, and he will have to play at a higher level against the Lightning. The two teams split the regular season matchups and this is probably going to be a long and grueling series. I think Tampa Bay is going to win a game in Florida, but I’m not sure they are going to have their legs under them, on this quick turnaround from Sunday night’s win in Canada. I’m taking the Panthers in this one. PAPA DUDES PICK: Bet the MoneyLine on Florida -165