Welcome back to another day of NHL Predictions. Each day, Last Word on Hockey takes a look at the games that are happening and gives our predictions for each one, breaking down head-to-head and other factors that may play in. We also have a featured game of the day, which is considered must-watch TV. Today’s featured game is the Edmonton Oilers vs Vancouver Canucks. Be sure to check out more NHL predictions in the coming days as the 2024 NHL Stanley Cup playoffs roll on.
NHL Predictions
Boston Bruins vs Florida Panthers
Series Head-to-Head: Bruins 1-1 Panthers
TV:TNT, TruTV, Sportsnet, TVAS,SNO, CBC
Our opening game of NHL predictions has the Boston Bruins and the Florida Panthers looking to get the advantage in Game 3 of the series. Florida bounced back with a 6-1 drubbing of Boston in Game to even up the series. Sergei Bobrovsky will once again get the call in net for the Panthers. Aleksander Barkov and Sam Reinhart each recorded four points for the Cats in Game 2. Matthew Tkachuk also got into a scrap with David Pastrnak in the second game.
Boston might make a goalie change from Jeremy Swayman to Linus Ullmark in Game 3. However, always keep an eye on social media before locking in a daily fantasy starter. The Bruins suffered their heaviest defeat this post-season, but did steal one game in South Florida. Brad Marchand leads the team in points with 10 while Jake DeBrusk and Pastrnak each are in second with six points. It’ll be interesting to see how the B’s react to being dominated on the scoreboard and physically.
This has the makings of a nasty series, but Florida gets home ice back in this one.
Prediction: Panthers win 4-2.
Edmonton Oilers vs Vancouver Canucks
Series Head-to-Head: Oilers 0-1 Canucks
TV: CBC, TVAS, Sportsnet, SN 360, TNT, TruTV
Our final and featured game of NHL predictions has the Oilers trying to pick up the pieces after a stunning Game 1 loss. Edmonton was cruising to a series-opening victory. However, Vancouver rallied back and stole Game 1 by a 5-4 margin. Connor McDavid was held without a shot for the first time in his post-season career. However, he still leads the team with 13 points. Zach Hyman is the team’s top goal-scorer with nine while Leon Draisaitl has 12 points for Edmonton. Stuart Skinner will once again get the call and look for a bounce-back effort.
Latvian Arturs Silovs will once again try to keep momentum going for the Canucks. No one expect Silovs to win his last two starts, but he’s done just enough to keep his team in games. These starts may be helping the team buy precious time before normal starter Thatcher Demko is cleared for later in the series. Brock Boeser, Dakota Joshua and J.T. Miller are each tied for the team lead in points with seven. Elias Lindholm has come into his own and is starting to play like the trade deadline acquisition that the team hoped him to be.
Expect the Oilers to come out firing and especially McDavid. Edmonton bounces back and ties up the series.
Prediction: Oilers win 4-3.
Prop Bets of the Night
We’ve got some prop bets ready to go for tonight. In the opener, we like Barkov to go with the over on +1.0 points for the Panthers. We’ll take Marchard getting the over on +3.0 shots for the Bruins.
As for the late game, we expect McDavid to bounce back. We’ll take the Edmonton captain with the over on +1.0 assists. For the Canucks, we’ll go with Quinn Hughes getting the over on +0.5 points.
Main photo by: Bob Frid – USA TODAY Sports
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