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NHL Playoff Picks and Predictions for Friday August 21

VegasInsider Staff
VegasInsider Staff Sports Betting Expert
2 minute read

Stanley Cup Playoffs NHL Best Bets

Games set for Friday, August 21, 2020
To be played in Toronto and Edmonton

NHL Favorite Best Bet

  • Matchup: St. Louis vs. Vancouver
  • TV-Time: NBCSN, 9:45 p.m. ET

St. Louis -135

This play does have a bit of the "going down with the ship" feel to it.

St Louis was a team I pegged to get by Vancouver this round before the series started, and they've got to win tonight just to get an opportunity to do so. This Blues core was a perfect 3-0 SU during last year's playoff run to the Cup, and you just generally know that the champs of any sport don't go down without a fight the following year.

One bad period derailed St Louis in Game 5 and you'd better believe that their overall play during that 2nd period has been a sticking point for this Blues team inside that dressing room.

Defensive lapses like the one the Blues had during that frame are so atypical for this team that I've got enough confidence in them to fix those mistakes this time around and ultimately come away with the victory.

NHL Over-Under Total Best Bet

  • Matchup: St. Louis vs. Vancouver
  • TV-Time: NBCSN, 9:45 p.m. ET

Over 5.5 (+112)

Don't really see a need to take anything but an 'over' for this game, as three of the five games in this series have cashed this play with 7 goals scored in each game, and the two 'unders' that hit in Games 3 and 4 both saw scoreless 3rd periods after four goals had already been scored.

Based on that, there is a case to be made that we could have seen the 'over' run perfect so far in this series, and I'm not sure we see much change tonight.



Being that it is an elimination game for the Blues, St Louis has to throw everything they can at the Canucks net to try and stay alive, while Vancouver has proven that they will never back down from the champs, on the scoreboard or in the physicality department.

Something like another 4-3 game could easily be what we have on tap tonight.

NHL Prop Best Bet

  • Matchup: Philadelphia vs. Montreal
  • TV-Time: NBCSN, 7:05 p.m. ET

Montreal Team Total Under 2.5 -159

Montreal managed to live to fight another day with their 5-3 win in Game 5, as the goal light operator in this series finally got to do something.

However, Montreal putting up five goals in a game has been a horrible sign for them in their next outing this year as they are a brutal 2-12 SU in 14 tries after scoring 5+ goals in their last outing. Moreover, the Canadiens have averaged just 2.07 goals per game in those 14 contests, hence going 'under' the 2.5 team total tonight.


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