Predators vs Penguins Online Betting: Stanley Cup Final 2017 Game 6

Nashville vs Pittsburgh Game 6 Preview

The Stanley Cup Finals has given a new meaning to "home ice advantage" with home teams being a perfect 5-0. Even more interesting, both Penguins and Predators have won by at least two goals each with the closest game being game 1 where a Penguins' empty-netter made it a two-goal win. Home teams have averaged four goals per game while visiting teams only managed 1.2 per contest. Should this continue, the Predators should force a deciding game 7 but to do that, Pekka Rinne must again step up.

	PUCKLINE	MONEYLINE	TOTAL
Predators	-1.5 (+175)	-130	o5.5 (+105)
Penguins	+1.5 (-220)	+110	u5.5 (-125)

Will the real Pekka Rinne please stand up? The Predators' netminder is having a Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde moment having allowed 11 goals in Pittsburgh but only two goals in Nashville. Rinne was pulled in both game 2 and game 5 losses and was the goat in the game 1 loss. If this trend continues, Rinne should again stonewall the Penguins en route to a dominant victory for his Predators but the explosive Penguins may have other plans.

The Penguins quickly lit up Rinne in game 5 and never looked back. The shots on goal were even for both teams in the first but Rinne couldn't stop Pittsburgh while Matt Murray made a total of 24 saves to shut the Preds out for the first time in the series.

Sidney Crosby dropped three assists while Phil Kessel added three points (1 goal, 2 assists) while even journeyman Ron Hainsey got some scoring. The Penguins can score at will at any time but they'll have to continue the momentum in Nashville.

Pittsburgh started the series slowly and were outplayed by Nashville's skaters for most of the first three games but they have since rallied as Nashville's defensemen seem to be slowing down. Add insult to injury when Crosby seemingly roughed up P.K. Subban and got away scot-free. A total of 100 penalties in minutes and six Penguins power plays indicate things are getting more intense and should this carry to Nashville, the Predators only hope the referees give them the same "home ice advantage" the Pens got last game.

Penguins at Predators Online Betting

It's a valid argument that game 5 was a turning point for the Finals as the Predators seemingly have ran out of gas and not even the vaunted defense can bail them out. But the same argument could've been used with the Predators gaining momentum following their decisive home victories. The Pittsburgh offense was clicking and Nashville's goalies weren't but game 6 back in Nashville will be like a new game. Considering Rinne's magic-like improvement at home and a more desperate Predators team, they're the right bet at only -130. 

Nashville Predators (-130) PLAY NOW

Besides the money line, there are three other types of bets you can familiarize yourself with: the "puck line", totals (over/under), and propositions (props).

Each requires its own strategy and the best sportsbooks all offer these types of bets but props differ. These are the miscellaneous bets you can make that don't concern the games final outcome (i.e. which team scores first) or are adjustments you manually make to the money line, puckline, or totals (i.e. adjust the totals to 4.5 or 6.5 instead of 5.5).

The puck line is like the NHL's point spread and is usually set at 1.5. The minus and plus indicate how many goals are subtracted or added from the team's final score, respectively. Like the money line, minus is the favourite and plus is the underdog. For the bet to cash, the favourite has to win by 2 or more goals while the underdog can't lose by 2 or more. For the last five games, the -1.5 team has cashed at close to 2-1 odds. A $100 bet would've cashed over $900.

The totals (over/under) refer to the combined final score from both teams. Set at 5.5, the over has cashed three out of five times while both times the under cashed, the combined score was five.

The Stanley Cup Finals have been a high-scoring affair and more action is coming in on the under with bettors expecting there to be less than 5.5 goals but its arbitrary nature means a bet on the over at underdog price is the play to make. Testing this out can be easy with the signup bonus sportsbooks offer.

Category : Online Betting News

Tag : NHL , Penguins , Predators , stanley cup finals

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