Free NHL Eastern Conference Playoffs Picks, Best Bets, and Parlays for 5/2/22

The Stanley Cup Playoffs are here and this should be some of the best matchups we have seen in a long time. There are some very good teams who are capable of a long playoff run that won’t make it past the first round. Some of these series in the first round are to close to call in my opinion, and I am looking forward to seeing how it all plays out.

On the last day of the regular season we missed our Best Bet as Toronto defeated the Rangers. So, we will start the playoffs with a Best Bet of the Day of 46-29 since the All-Star Break.

We went an average 9-6- betting the MoneyLine last night and our overall record is 337-186 as the playoffs start.

The Upset Special came in on the final night of the regular season as Minnesota beat the Avalanche and we made a nice profit.

And, finally we stay hot with the Parlays as we hit another one. Our $10 wager had a Payout of $70.75 to cap off the night.

The run for the Stanley Cup begins tonight with 4 games on the schedule. Let’s see what Vegas is thinking about the 2 Eastern Conference games and see if we can get lucky.

*PAPA DUDES BEST BET* Boston at Carolina: This ia a matchup of the Metropolitan division champion, Hurricanes, and the first wild card, Boston Bruins. Carolina won 54 games and ended the regular season with 116 points, which was the third highest behind Florida and Colorado. They won their final 6 games and there are a lot of things to like about them. They aren’t going to overwhelm you with their scoring as Sebastian Aho led them with 37 goals and 81 points. But, they are balanced and feature a defense that gave up the fewest goals of any of the remaining playoff teams. Goaltender, Frederik Andersen was outstanding, with a 2.17 goals against average and a save percentage of 92%. They will be facing a Boston team that won 51 games and ended up with 107 points. That is a good season by any standards. They are the typical hard-checking, physical, defensive-minded Bruins team that everyone is familiar with. Their style of play gives them a chance to win every game. They are led in scoring by Brad Marchand (32 goals and 48 assists), and David Pastrnak (40 goals and 37 assists). As a team the Bruins don’t score a lot of points and that could be a problem as the playoffs progress.

The Hurricanes are the better overall team, but Boston has a ton of experience they will be hard to beat. I like Carolina a lot and I’m going to stick with them to get off to a good start and take Game 1. PAPA DUDES BEST BET: Bet the MoneyLine on Carolina -120

Tampa Bay at Toronto: What a fascinating series this should be! We have the two-time defending Stanley Cup Champion, Lightning, going up against the Toronto Maple Leafs who haven’t been able to get out of the first round, despite having superior teams. I’m not sure they have the superior team in this series, but it doesn’t matter in hockey crazy, Toronto. They are demanding a long playoff run for the Leafs. Toronto won 54 games and finished the regular season on a 14-2-2 run. So, they are in great form as the series begins. They have a 60 goal scorer in Auston Matthews and several other players provide plenty of firepower as well. They are a fun, exciting team to watch and a lot of pressure will be on Jack Campbell, their goalie. Then, there are the Tampa Bay Lightning, who won 51 games and finished with 110 points. They have been good for a long time and they know what it takes to win a Stanley Cup. They have clutch players and have the best playoff goalie in Andrei Vasilevskiy to clean up a lot of mistakes.

So, it quite a matchup between the Lightning, a team that knows what it takes to win playoff games, and a talented Toronto team that is playing with the eyes of Canada upon them. The two teams split the four regular season games and there is nothing to tip my hat toward either one of them. I’m going to take a leap of faith and go with the Maple Leafs in Game 1, but my money is staying in my pocket. PAPA DUDES PICK: Bet the MoneyLine on Toronto -130