NHL Playoffs: Game-to-Game Betting Analysis

The NHL playoffs are upon us and to help you with your game-to-game betting, I’ve compiled a list of betting data from the regular season. To make sure all trends are at least somewhat relevant, I only used numbers from games after the trade deadline in an attempt to paint an accurate picture of each team as they head into their respective postseason matchups.

If you took in any of my NHL content during the regular season, you know I gave weekly updates on live betting, the three-way moneyline, and of course, the Puckline. I’ve broken this article down by those three categories and given a brief analysis of each which teams I think you should be targeting as well which ones I think could be worth a fade.

For the traditional betting numbers for the entire season (Straight up, OVER/UNDER, ATS) of all the playoff teams, scroll all the way to the bottom of this article.

For NHL futures odds click the respective link to find the article you’re looking for: Stanley Cup Futures, Eastern and Western Conference Futures, Conn Smythe Futures, NHL Series Prices.

Live Betting

The Blue Jackets and Penguins meet in the first round of Lord Stanley’s most sacred competition and they have something in common – neither one can hold a lead when they score first. Columbus is 7-5 in that situation since the trade deadline and Pittsburgh is 7-6. My suggestion here is to think about betting against whichever team scores the first goal of the game if they’re being offered at a good price as neither one has proved it’s capable of holding a lead.

Three-way Moneyline

Stop me if you’ve heard this before but according to this chart, the St. Louis Blues have been the best team in the NHL since the trade deadline. They’ve gone 14-3 in regulation and needed overtime to settle their contests just three times since parting ways with Kevin Shattenkirk.

I like the Blues a lot in these playoffs and think they’ll offer value in most spots until the public realizes how good they actually are. 

Puckline

Although they were a little fortunate to draw the Canadiens in the playoffs instead of one of the juggernauts in the Metropolitan, the Rangers will be a great fade on the puckline from here on. They were terrible at home down the stretch and they even went on a horrendous eight-game losing streak at Madison Square Garden.

My suggestion here would be to back their first-round opponents, the Canadiens, on the moneyline when they’re playing in New York. The Blueshirts hemorrhaged money as favorites after the trade deadline, going just 1-9 ATS and they were actually swept by the Canadiens in their regular season series.