NHL Playoff Picks and Predictions for Saturday August 29

VegasInsider Staff Sports Betting Expert

4 minute read

Stanley Cup Playoffs NHL Best Bets

Games set for Saturday August 29, 2020 To be played in Toronto and Edmonton

NHL Favorite Best Bet

Game 3 - Was originally scheduled to be played Thursday August 27

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

Vegas ML -200

Game 2 had the look like Vegas got a little cocky after their dominant Game 1 victory over the young Canucks, as there was sloppy play all over.

The Knights did turn up the heat in the 2nd period as they tried to climb back into the game, but a late Canucks goal by Elias Petterson in that frame created a bit more distance, and then a very sloppy breakout where four of the five Knights players were leaving their zone before the puck was even out lead to another Canucks tally less than 30 seconds into the final frame.

Don't expect to see Vegas have that type of lackluster performance again tonight in Game 3, as this team is still 8-2 SU in the bubble, and hasn't lost two straight since all the way back on Feb 8th and 11th, a span of 23 games.

Game 2 was that wake up call for Vegas that if they don't take Vancouver seriously they are going to get burned, and the Knights coming out and making a strong statement that it won't happen again in this series should be the end result tonight.

NHL Underdog Best Bet

Game 3 - Was originally scheduled to be played Thursday August 27

• Matchup: Philadelphia vs New York Islanders
• TV-Time: NBCSN, 7:00 p.m. ET

New York Islanders -1.5 PL +245

The Islanders were another team that appeared to look a little to cocky in the start of their Game 2 with the Flyers and it's hard to blame them. They had thoroughly dominated Philly from start to finish in that opener, had a goalie that was riding a two-game shutout streak, and for the bulk of these playoffs the Islanders had the look of being one of the best teams we've got here.

A desperate Flyers team took advantage of that overconfidence early on though, blitzing NYI with three 3rd period goals to chase Varlamov and his shutout streak from the net early.

But from the 2nd period on, New York started to find their stride again, and once the 3rd period rolled around it was like New York simply flipped a switch and there they were all over the Flyers on every shift to eventually come back and tie the game. An OT goal ended up halting that comeback, but for how poorly NYI played in that first period, to get it to a coin flip situation of OT was telling.

It was the fact that New York looked so dominant in that 3rd period, as if they just simply decided that would be the case and did it was the telling factor to me and prompted a NYI series future wager to be placed personally right when lines were offered again.

I said in yesterday's piece that Game 1 proved that the Islanders are the better of the two teams at playing that defensive-minded brand of hockey, and three regular season wins in high-scoring games suggested New York had the edge there as well. And if it weren't for an awful opening 20 minutes from New York, they could have easily won the higher scoring Game 2 too, and still had a chance to in OT when it came down to it.

So like Vegas, I expect this Islanders team to have learned from those mistakes tonight and play that dominant brand of hockey we saw in the 3rd period from them from the outset tonight.

Three of their four wins over Philly this year have covered the -1.5 line, and as we saw in Game 1, the Flyers aren't shy about pulling the goalie very early should they be down a few goals. That only adds more opportunity for New York to pad their lead and make this PL play much safer.

NHL Prop Best Bet

Game 3 - Was originally scheduled to be played Thursday August 27

• Matchup: Philadelphia vs New York Islanders
• TV-Time: NBCSN, 7:00 p.m. ET

Jordan Eberle to get a point (+100)

Eberle has been held off the scoresheet in three of the last four contests for New York, but the Islanders are 5-0 SU in the bubble when he does find his name there, compared to New York having a 3-3 SU record when he doesn't.

Being a top line winger and on one of the power play units gives him all the opportunity in the world to cash a play like this tonight, and with me already liking the Islanders to take the contest tonight by multiple goals, it's not hard to get behind a play like this, knowing the Islanders are undefeated when he does contribute offensively.

VegasInsider Staff

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