It was a tale of two NHL playoff games — in two different countries — Wednesday night. Down in the southeastern U.S., the Carolina Hurricanes and New York Rangers slugged it out in a classic low-scoring overtime nailbiter. North of the border, the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers engaged in old-fashioned shootout that featured less defense than you see at your average NHL All-Star Game.
What will these four teams do for an encore when their conference semifinal matchups resume with Game 2 on Friday? The NHL playoff odds market suggests two things: The home teams will hold serve again, but with goal totals far less extreme than what we saw two nights ago.
Props.com breaks down Friday’s NHL playoff odds and action for Game 2 of Rangers-Hurricanes and Game 2 of Oilers-Flames.
Odds via WynnBet and updated as of 6:40 p.m. ET on May 20.
New York Rangers vs Carolina Hurricanes (Game 2)
Puck Drop/TV: 8 p.m. ET/ESPN
Moneyline: Hurricanes -170/Rangers +150
Puckline: Hurricanes -1.5 (+150)/Rangers +1.5 (-180)
Total: 5.5 (Over -105/Under +115)
Best-of-7 series: Carolina leads, 1-0.
Series odds: Carolina -380/New York +300
Game 1 recap: Trailing 1-0, Carolina finally got on the board when center Sabastian Aho scored the equalizer with less than three minutes remaining in regulation. Then defenseman Ian Cole ripped a long wrist shot into the net 3:12 into overtime to give the Hurricanes a 2-1 victory as a consensus -180 home favorite. The 5.5-goal total was never threatened. Goaltenders Igor Shesterkin (New York) and Antii Raanta (Carolina) combined to stop 51 of 54 shots.
Slap shots: With the comeback win Wednesday, the Hurricanes improved to 5-3 in the playoffs, with all five victories coming on home ice. Carolina is 11-3 in its last 14 games dating to April 18, and the team is now 34-8-4 on home ice this season. … The Rangers are 4-4 in the postseason (1-3 on the road). … Both teams have played back-to-back one-goal games after each of their first six playoff contests were decided by multiple goals. … Carolina is now 4-1 against the Rangers this season (2-1 at home), with a 16-11 goals advantage. … Shesterkin, who had a rough start to the playoffs in the opening round against Pittsburgh, has stopped 123 of the last 134 shots he’s faced (.918 save percentage).
From the Penalty Box
Only two penalties were called in Game 1 (one on each team), and both were killed. New York is now 6-for-20 on the power play (4th in the playoffs), while Carolina is 5-for-37 (13th). The Hurricanes — whose 88% penalty kill led the NHL in the regular season and was one of the best in league history — has killed 24 of 30 penalties in the playoffs (8th). The Rangers have killed 18 of 24 (10th).
Betting Nuggets
- New York is 4-10 in its last 14 playoff games
- New York is 15-37 in its last 51 as a playoff underdog
- Carolina is 6-0 in its last five conference semifinal contests
- Carolina is 26-8 in its last 34 as a playoff favorite (5-0 this year)
- Over for New York is on runs of 7-1 overall and 4-2 on the road
- Over for Carolina is on streaks of 8-2-1 overall and 4-2 at home
- Favorite is 6-2 in the last eight Rangers-Hurricanes meetings
Game 2 prediction: Hurricanes 3, Rangers 1
Edmonton Oilers vs Calgary Flames (Game 2)
Puck Drop/TV: 10:30 p.m. ET/ESPN
Moneyline: Flames -175/Oilers +155
Puckline: Flames -1.5 (+145)/Oilers +1.5 (-175)
Total: 6.5 (Over -115/Under -105)
Best-of-7 series: Calgary leads, 1-0.
Series odds: Calgary -380/Edmonton +300
Game 1 recap: Calgary scored twice just 51 seconds into the contest on the way to a 3-0 first-period lead. The Flames were holding a 6-2 advantage nearing the midpoint of the second before Edmonton erupted for four straight goals to tie it. However, the Flames answered with the final three goals for a 9-6 win, cashing as a consensus -170 home favorite. It only took 27 minutes for the game to fly Over the 6.5-goal total. The 15 goals tied for the fifth-most in NHL playoff history. The most recent occurrence prior to Game 1 was the Los Angeles Kings’ 9-6 victory over Calgary in April 1993.
Slap shots: The Flames’ nine goals matched a franchise playoff record accomplished three other times (1988, 1993, 1995). The scoring outburst came after the team produced just 15 goals in its seven-game opening-round series against Dallas. … Calgary left winger Matthew Tkachuk recorded his first career playoff hat trick. He tallied the final two goals (including an empty-netter) to ice the victory. … Edmonton superstar Connor McDavid had a four-point night (1 goal, 3 assists), as did Flames center Blake Coleman (2 goals, 2 assists). … Calgary is just 5-5 (one OT loss) in it last 10 games, but 8-2 in its last nine at home (4-1 in the playoffs). … Edmonton is still 18-5-1 in its last 24 games overall (7-4 on the road). … The Flames now lead this year’s Battle of Alberta 3-2, with the home team taking each contest (and six in a row dating to last year). The past eight meetings have been decided by 2+ goals. … Calgary has won the last three meetings by the combined score of 21-12.
From the Penalty Box
Of the 15 goals in Game 1, just one was scored on the power play, as the teams combined to go 1-for-7 with a man advantage (Calgary 1-for-3; Edmonton 0-for-4). The Oilers still have the third-best power play in the playoffs (7-for-23, 30.4%), and they rank 7th on the penalty kill (23-for-27). The Flames are 14th on the power play (3-for-27), but 2nd on the kill. They have allowed just two power-play goals in 26 chances this postseason.
Betting Nuggets
- Edmonton is 2-6 in its last eight as an underdog
- Edmonton is 1-5 in its last six conference semifinal games
- Calgary is 7-3 in its last 10 playoff games as a favorite
- Over is 5-1 in Edmonton’s last six conference semifinal games
- Under is 7-3 in Edmonton’s last 10 road games
- Under for Calgary is on runs of 6-3-1 overall and 3-1-1 at home
- Favorite is 5-1 in the last six Oilers-Flames battles (home team: 6-0)
- Over is 4-1 in five head-to-head meetings this season
- Over is 14-6-1 in the last 21 series clashes in Calgary
Prediction: Flames 6, Oilers 5
NHL Playoff Odds & Action Updates
Rangers vs Hurricanes
UPDATED 6:35 P.M. ET FRIDAY: WynnBet opened Carolina as a -180 favorite, with New York at +150. About 30 minutes prior to puck drop of Game 2, the Hurricanes have dipped slightly to -170, with the Rangers holding at +150. The moneyline is seeing two-way action at WynnBet, with 54% of the tickets on Carolina and 60% of the money on New York.
The Rangers are taking the bulk of the puckline action at nearly 89% tickets and 70% cash, with the current odds unchanged from the opener: Carolina (-1.5) +150/New York (+1.5) -180.
There has been no change in the total, which has been pegged to 5.5, though there have been several adjustments from -110 both sides up to Under -120. The current price on WynnBet’s NHL playoff odds board is 5.5/Under -115 amid two-way action of 58% wagers on the Over/75% money on the Under.
UPDATED 6:50 P.M. ET THURSDAY: DraftKings installed Carolina as a -170 home chalk on its Game 2 NHL playoff odds board Wednesday night. The moneyline advanced to Hurricanes -175/Rangers +150 overnight, but it has since dialed back to the current price of Hurricanes -165/Rangers +145. Early moneyline action is split at DraftKings, with 51% of the wagers on Carolina and 54% of the dough on New York.
The puckline hasn’t moved from the opening odds of Carolina (-1.5) +155/New York (+1.5) -180. There’s two-way action here, as well, with 73% of all bets on the Rangers +1.5 goals and 63% of the cash on Hurricanes -1.5 goals.
DraftKings opened the total at 5.5/Over -120, and it’s now at 5.5/Under -115. Keeping with the theme of Game 2, DraftKings bettors are split on the total, with 82% of all early wagers on the Over and 71% of all early dollars on the Under.
Oilers vs Flames
UPDATED 6:40 P.M. ET THURSDAY: The Flames have shortened from an opener of -180 to -175 at WynnBet, with Edmonton sticking to the opening number of +150. Calgary is getting nearly two-thirds of the tickets (66%), but almost 86% of the money is on the Oilers.
There has been a big shift in the puckline odds, from an opener of Flames (-1.5) +145/Oilers (+1.5) -175 to the current price of Flames +130/Oilers -160. Contrary to that odds move, 65% of puckline wagers and 84% of puckline money is on Edmonton.
The total has gone from 6.5 flat (-110 both ways) to 6.5/Over -115, on two-way betting splits of 79% bets on the Over/53% cash on the Under.
UPDATED 6:50 P.M. ET THURSDAY: As with Hurricanes-Rangers, DraftKings opened the home team as a -170 favorite, with the visitors at +150 for Game 2 of this series. The moneyline then toggled between -170 and -175 on DraftKings’ NHL playoff odds board before recently jumping to the current price of Calgary -180/Edmonton +155. A huge majority of wagers (85%) are on the Flames, but the money is more evenly split at 55% Calgary/45% Edmonton.
The puckline opened at Flames (-1.5) +140/Oilers (+1.5) +160. Those odds stretched as far as Flames +150/Oilers -170, but they’re now at a low point of Flames +130/Oilers -150. As that line move suggests, tickets (73%) and money (92%) is heavy on Edmonton +1.5 goals.
The total opened and remains at 6.5, but the juice has moved from -110 both ways to Over -120 to the current number of 6.5/Over -115. Nearly all of the early totals action at DraftKings is on the Over at 93% wagers/97% cash.
