Edmonton will look to have a certain 27-year-old forward stay hot with multiple points in four of their last nine playoff games.
Thursday has another close-out opportunity for the New York Rangers, who had a 3-0 series lead over the Hurricanes but have dropped the last two games and now travel back to Raleigh with yet another chance to advance to the Conference Finals.
The night cap features a tight matchup between the Oilers and Canucks, who are tied in their series after four games and will now be decided by a best-of-three.
It should be another profitable night for us as we’ve been red hot once again with a big bounceback performance Wednesday night that saw us sweep our picks 3-0 after a lacklustre Tuesday. The big night brings our recent record to 18-9 over or last 27 picks.
All betting lines are from BetMGM and are subject to change. Hockey is a difficult sport to predict so please gamble responsibly.
Bet: Rangers ML (+140), Under 5.5 goals (-120)
The Rangers have let their last two games slip away with it happening again in Game five after having a majority of possession through the first 40 minutes of the game. They let things get out of hand in the third period with glaring defensive miscues that led to four unanswered Hurricane goals and the eventual loss.
Carolina’s win was an important one as they struggle on the road compared to at home with a 5-13 record compared to a 16-5 record at PNC Arena over the past three postseasons.
It would be exceptionally rare for the Hurricanes to come all the way back and win this series after being down 3-0 as it has only happened twice in league history (Flyers in 2010 and Kings in 2014).
It feels very much like letdown spot for the Hurricanes as they finally have this buzz after winning two games in a row and are finally seeing contributions from their once-cold players in Jordan Staal, Martin Necas, Evgeny Kuznetsov and Jordan Martinook. The four finally produced in their Game five win after combining for two goals in the previous four games of the series.
If they didn’t get a full contribution from everyone on offense, Carolina looked inline to lose Game five and could lose Game six if they don’t see the same full effort with netminder Igor Shesterkin due for a bounceback game as he lost three consecutive starts just once this season.
He should make the same impact he did earlier in the series where he made 121 saves on 129 shots during the first three games. These two have combined for five or less goals in two of the five games so far but when the stakes are so high, they will both have game plans to not give an inch on offense.
Bet: Oilers Canucks Over 6.5 goals (+100), Connor McDavid Over 1.5 points (-160)
The Canucks have been neck-and-neck with the Oilers all series long winning as the underdog or at least covering the puck line in every game. They now get to return home, where they have a 2-3 record and a 3.20 goals against average this postseason.
We were incorrect in predicting another high-scoring game in the Oilers 3-2 win in Game four but we should see another one tonight as we are now two games in a row with Connor McDavid finishing with fewer than two points.
It had become a staple for the 27-year-old as he was listed with the highest odds to get multiple points almost every game he played during the regular season and so far this playoffs.
He has hit this mark in four of his nine playoffs games so far and could improve the record with a big game tonight. McDavid has become a playoff point machine with nine goals and 14 assists for 23 points over his last ten road games.
The game could go either way with both teams splitting their home games so far this series, so bet on one of the best players in the world instead and hope for another exciting game between these two offenses that have combined for seven or more goals in three of their four games.