More and more of the second-round bracket in the 2021 NHL playoffs is firming up after Wednesday’s action. Tampa Bay dispatched Florida and awaits the winner between Carolina and Nashville. The Boston Bruins will face the New York Islanders, who completed a surprising upset of Pittsburgh on Wednesday. Colorado awaits the winner of Vegas and Minnesota, while Winnipeg is watching the Montreal-Toronto series with interest.
Let’s take a look at Thursday night’s NHL playoff games, with our sports betting previews.
NHL News: Playoff Games (May 27)
Montreal Canadiens at Toronto Maple Leafs, Game 5
(7:00 pm ET, NBC Sports) | Maple Leafs lead, 3-1
The Maple Leafs made a major statement in Game 4, steamrolling the Montreal Canadiens on their home ice, 4-0. Alex Galchenyuk set up a pair of goals and slotted home an empty-netter against his old team, and Jack Campbell stopped all 32 shots that he faced. Galchenyuk came on after Game 2, when captain John Tavares went down in a frightening collision. The Leafs also got a goal and a helper from Jason Spezza, while William Nylander and Joe Thornton had the other goals. Alexander Kerfoot had three assists.
Montreal got 24 saves out of Carey Price, whose goaltending gymnastics appear once again to be going to waste in the playoffs. Montreal has just four goals in 12 periods against Jack Campbell, as the teams are skating against one another in the playoffs for the first time since 1979; until the last realignment, of course, they had skated in different conferences. Wins in Games 3 and 4 have the Leafs winners in Montreal in two straight playoff games for the first time since 1967, when they vied in the Stanley Cup Final. Toronto has not played in a second-round game in 17 years. However, Toronto is 11-1 all time in series that they lead 3-1, although the last time they had that sort of series lead was 1987. This is a new Leafs team, though, skating with all kinds of confidence.
Final Prediction:
Maple Leafs 2, Canadiens 1
Carolina Hurricanes at Nashville Predators, Game 6
(9:30 pm ET, NBC Sports) | Hurricanes lead, 3-2
As the top seed from the Central Division, Carolina has had a much more difficult time with Nashville than many hockey observers thought. Of course, getting a 1-seed means just about nothing in the NHL — ask Tampa Bay, who went down in a sweep in the first round after getting the first seed in the East in the 2019 Stanley Cup playoffs. You can also ask the Pittsburgh Penguins, who just got sent home by the New York Islanders in the first round of this year’s postseason. In Game 5 against the Predators, Carolina needed overtime to break the 2-2 series tie, as Jordan Staal stuck a rebound into the net 2:03 into the extra frame. Staal was near the crease when Brett Pesce put a shot toward Nashville’s Juuse Saros, who made a save and poked the puck ahead. However, Staal swatted it by Saros to get the game-winner.
This was the third consecutive game in this series to go to overtime; Nashville had won Games 3 and 4 at home, both in double overtime. This time, though, Carolina ended up on top. Martin Necas scored twice for the Hurricanes, and Yakov Trenin scored a pair for the Predators. Saros stopped 34 shots; in the two wins in double overtime, he had stopped a combined 110 shots. Nashville had a 2-1 lead until 12:55 of the third, when Necas got his second goal, skating by Matt Duchene to move behind the net and beat Saros on the wraparound. Can Carolina become the first team in this series to win a road game?
Final Prediction:
Predators 3, Hurricanes 2
NHL Betting Odds
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