NHL Series Playoff Betting Tips: Rangers vs Senators, Capitals vs Penguins

Written by Graeme & Scott on Wednesday, April 26th, 2017

We’ve got two games kicking off in the NHL tonight, as the Predators take on the Blues and the Oilers take on the Ducks.

We already wrote out series predictions on those so check those out.

In this article we’ll look at the two series in the East.

The Senators take on the Rangers and the Capitals face off against the Penguins. Both the Senators and Capitals have home ice advantage in these series.

Let’s get to it:

Rangers vs Senators Series Betting Tips:

Scott: The Rangers beat the Habs 4-2 in a battle of the goalies.

The Sens beat the Bruins 4-2 in a great first round series

Karlsson has an injured heel but still plays out of this world. The Sens seem to have rallyed behind not only him but Craig Anderson.

But I think it’s the Rangers depth that is going to win this series. Lundqvist is playing at the top of his game. The Sens aren’t a high offense team and with all respect to Anderson Lundqvist is the better goalie.

Should be a good series but I think the Rangers are the better team and will move on to the Eastern Conference finals.

Rangers in 6

Graeme: I’ve said it before – I haven’t given the Senators enough respect all season. However in retrospect I’m really kicking myself for picking the Habs to progress.

While the stats did go in favour of the Habs in that series, thinking back to the regular season I loved the Rangers performances for the most part. I saw a fighting spirit in them I never saw in Montreal.

So that leaves me conflicted here. One big difference from the Bruins series is the Rangers line rotation – they’ve got 4 very solid lines which could cause problems for the Sens. They also had a very poor PP when beating the Habs – I can’t see that happening here. Sens have a weak penalty kill.

Here’s the deal. I went into my research this morning hoping to go with Ottawa. That was what I was leaning towards and that gave me a bias – yet despite that, everything I look at tells me to go with the Rangers. I might have egg on my face after this one, but I’m going to go with Rangers in 6.

Sorry Senator fans. If it helps I’m already regretting this pick.

Canada: Bet the series correct score at Sports Interaction. It’s at “NHL Futures” under “Hockey”.

USA: Bet the series correct score at Bovada. Go to “Hockey” on the sidebar, then use the dropdown in the top menu to choose “NHL Playoffs Series Prices”.

Everyone Else: Bet the series correct score at Bet365 or Pinnacle Sports. At Bet365 it’s under “Hockey” and then right at the very bottom – NHL Futures 2016/2017. Pinnacle has it under “Specials”, “Hockey”, “NHL”.

Penguins vs Capitals Series Betting Tips:

Scott: The season series between these teams was 2-2.

The Penguins beat the Jackets 4-1. It’s a shame that 2 of the best teams in the league had to play each other in the first round meaning one would be eliminated but that’s the way the playoff format works these days.

The Caps beat the Leafs 4-2 in what was the best series of the first round.

I don’t think people give the Maple Leafs enough credit. They gave the Caps a good series and I think with the speed the Leafs had it is only going to help the Caps in preparing for the speed of the Penguins. With the addition of Shattenkirk the Caps now are solid from top to bottom and the Penguins have Kunitz, Hagelin and Letang injured which is only going to help the Caps.

No matter who wins this series it’s going to be amazing.

Capitals in 7

Graeme: Let’s be honest – the Capitals beat one of the best teams in the playoffs to progress. They had the hardest series because the Leafs played their “A” game for the majority of the series and they still came out of it successful. That’s impressive – especially when they weren’t expecting it.

The Penguins series was an interesting one because they were without letang and Murray but Fleury stepped up BIG. I mean the defense was atrocious for a lot of the games and they were very lucky.

Capitals were 2-0-2 versus the Penguins in the regular series but the Penguins have owned them in the playoffs.

You know I’m very, very conflicted on this one. I could easily sit here and argue both sides of it. Based on that, I’ve got to go with the better odds which is Penguins to win. I’ll take them in 7.

Canada: Bet the series correct score at Sports Interaction. It’s at “NHL Futures” under “Hockey”.

USA: Bet the series correct score at Bovada. Go to “Hockey” on the sidebar, then use the dropdown in the top menu to choose “NHL Playoffs Series Prices”.