NHL Playoff Picks and Predictions for Sunday August 30

VegasInsider Staff Sports Betting Expert

3 minute read

Stanley Cup Playoffs NHL Best Bets

Games set for Sunday August 30, 2020 To be played in Toronto and Edmonton

NHL Favorite Best Bet

Game 4

• Matchup: Philadelphia vs. New York Islanders
• TV-Time: NBC, 8:00 p.m. ET

N.Y. Islanders ML -118

For someone like myself who's already been riding Dallas because of their head-to-head series record with Colorado likely isn't as fluky as it looks, a 5-1 SU mark with the lone loss coming in OT for the Islanders over Philly fits right in line.

The Flyers can't score, and while I likely just lit the fuse for an offensive explosion tonight, the premise from backing the Islanders has really remained the same for much of this series. They are better at playing Philadelphia-style hockey then the Flyers, and the only other games they've won in this have been of the higher-scoring variety where you can trust them to be much more effective offensively.

New York just has these stretches where they completely dominate play. It comes in waves and comes almost at will for this team. I do think we see another one of those 4-3 style affairs tonight, but another 3-1 Islanders win will do just fine.

NHL Over-Under Best Bet

Game 4

• Matchup: Vegas vs. Vancouver
• TV-Time: NBCSN, 10:30 p.m. ET

Vancouver/Vegas Over 5.5

Should be interesting to see if Fleury does indeed go for Vegas tonight as he should on the back-to-back, and I'm looking for him to make him prove it to me. Even if Fleury is on, just seeing a different face other than Lehner is probably a welcomed sight for Vancouver's shooters. Game 2 was another post-shutout game fro the Canucks and they broke that goose egg in a hurry, why not again against a guy who's in Fleury's spot.

Offensively, Vegas will do what they do and force teams to get four to beat them, as another Markstrom start is adding up his playoff miles pretty quickly. Vancouver is 5-2 O/U in their last seven played without rest (1-1 O/U in bubble) and something similar to what we saw in Game 2 from either side isn't out of the question.

Vegas may end up being the ones on the right end of a 5-2 score this time, but I've got a hard time imagining a case where these two teams play twice in a 24-hour stretch and don't at least threaten six goals. Either goalie could easily put the distractions/fatigue aside and light things up tonight, but I still want to see them prove it.

NHL Prop Best Bet

Game 4

• Matchup: Colorado vs Dallas
• TV-Time: NBCSN, 6:00 p.m. ET

Both teams to score in 1st period: Yes (+180)

25 total goals through three games in this series has seen more periods when only one team scores then you would think, but this critical Game 4 could be tight early and with that many goals scored, it's probably more likely to be 1-1 then 0-0. At least for +180 I'm willing to back that being the case.

Five of the nine periods in this series have had at least 3 goals scored in them, and four of them have had both teams do their part in that regard. With how the final 20 minutes of Game 3 saw each side put in three unanswered goals, expecting a similar pace early for this price is worth the speculation.

Colorado's going to continue to keep coming right at the Stars, and Dallas won't shy away from making the most of their opportunities as well. Nothing we've seen in this series suggests we won't get another game that sees 6+ goals, so asking them to both pull their weight in maintaining that pace at nearly 2/1 is worth it for me.

VegasInsider Staff

More from VegasInsider Staff