NHL picks for today
Dallas Stars vs Calgary Flames
The Stars doused the Flames (I know, such low hanging fruit) in Game 5 and are now on the verge of winning a playoff series in consecutive seasons for the first time in 19 years. The Stars bullied the Flames through the first two periods on Tuesday and held off a Calgary charge in the third period when the Flames outshot the Stars 15-6.
While Cam Talbot has done an admirable job during the postseason (2.17 GAA, .934 SV%), he’s not getting any help from Calgary’s big guns. Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan and Elias Lindholm have combined for only seven points in this series. Yikes.
PREDICTION: Stars ML (-135)
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New York Islanders vs Washington Capitals
Full disclosure: I’m a huge Washington Capitals fan. Shortly after winning the Stanley Cup in 2018, the Caps quickly parted ways with then-head coach Barry Trotz, who now has his former team on the cusp of elimination, despite Washington’s two-goal comeback in Game 4. Sure helps to have a guy like Alex Ovechkin, who finally exploded for two goals to keep Washington alive with a 3-2 victory.
The Caps may have rallied to beat former Washington netminder Semyon Varlamov in Game 4, but that looks to be an aberration. Varlamov leads all playoff goalies with six wins to go along with a stellar 1.87 GAA, and this is a Caps team that has essentially been a .500 club since December and is only 2-4 during the postseason.
PREDICTION: Islanders ML (+105)
The Isles are second only to the Vegas Golden Knights in goals scored during the playoffs, averaging 3.43 per game, while the Caps have averaged 1.87 — dead last among teams remaining in the postseason. The total for Thursday’s tilt is set at 5.5, so Vegas clearly expects both netminders to step up. Washington goalie Braden Holtby ranks in the bottom half of playoff goalies with a 2.55 GAA and .909 save percentage, so I’m not so sure.
While it pains me to say, the Caps tend to quit when they are losing. Maybe another elimination game will change that, but the Isles getting an empty netter to hit the Over wouldn’t surprise me either.
PREDICTION: Over 5.5 (+135)
NHL Betting card for August 20
- Stars ML (-135)
- Islanders ML (+105)
- Islanders vs. Capitals Over 5.5 (+105)
