Predators vs Penguins Online Betting: Stanley Cup Final 2017 Game 3

Nashville vs Pittsburgh Game 3 Preview

"We want the cup!" 18,000 voices shouted loudly as game 2's final buzzer went off. The Penguins moved two wins away from winning their second straight Stanley Cup and third since the Crosby-Malkin era began ten years ago. The Predators scored first and outshot the Pens but just couldn't solve goalie Matt Murray while Jake Guentzel scored his 11th and 12th playoff goals to put the Preds away. Goaltender Pekka Rinne was pulled after another dismal performance and all the momentum is now with Pittsburgh as game 3 heads to Nashville.

	PUCKLINE	MONEYLINE	TOTAL
Predators	-1.5 (+190)	-145	o5.5 (+120)
Penguins	+1.5 (-240)	+125	u5.5 (-140)
Pittsburgh Penguins (+125) PLAY NOW

Conventional sports wisdom dictates defense trumps offense especially when it's the NHL Finals but this isn't the case in this scenario as the prolific Penguins continue to pile goals on the defensively stout Predators. Although this narrative is true to an extent, the real suspect here is goaltending. Pittsburgh's Matt Murray is outplaying Nashville's Pekka Rinne by leaps and bounds and for the Preds' sake, Rinne has to be better or the series could be over in a hurry. 

The Predators got this far thanks to Rinne's stellar play as he posted the best save percent through three playoff series. Nashville never trailed and even swept the mighty Blackhawks in the first round. But Rinne has looked shellshocked so far posting an abysmal .778 save percentage on just 36 shots.

Peter Laviolette is faced with a tough decision to either keep him in net or give rarely used Juuse Saros a shot. Either way, goaltending needs to get better as the Preds' skaters are doing everything they can. As for the Penguins, they need improvements as well.

Through two games, the Penguins have been outshot but have been bailed out by their goaltender. It's a bit of a role reversal but if they can be up 2-0 in the series despite getting outshot, outhit, and going 1 for 10 on the powerplay (0 for 7 in game 2) then they can only get better.

Pittsburgh scored four goals in game 2 and Crosby didn't even register a point. They'll need to buckle up as the Preds will be as dangerous as the wounded animals they are.

Penguins at Predators Online Betting

The oddsmakers expect the public to see a bounceback game from the Predators and it depends on whether Rinne returns to form or Saros steps up. The defense has been playing their hearts out while the likes of Filip Forsberg and Colton Sissons need to get better.

But the Pens haven't exactly played their best hockey either as Crosby still hasn't scored a goal. Nashville is used to being frontrunners and now have an uphill battle to climb against the defending champions. Pittsburgh is the more valuable bet at plus money.

Picking a winner in this series is difficult and betting the money line can be even more trying. Thankfully, most sportsbooks offer the opportunity to bet on more than one type of game.

You can try the puckline (an NHL-exclusive) and the over/under or even props, bets that don't deal with the final outcome i.e. which team scores first, depending on your book. A signup bonus of up to $200 is offered by some books so you may have extra cash to try these out.

The puckline is like the point spread and assigns a line for either team to "cover". A +1.5 line indicates the team is can either win or lose by no greater than 1.5 difference. This is the underdog.

On the flipside, a -1.5 means the team needs to win by a score greater than a 1.5 goal differential. This indicates the favourite. Right now a bet on the Predators at -1.5 is +190 and despite their goaltender issues, the -1.5 line is 2-0 in the series.

You can ignore picking a winner altogether and go for the over/under or totals. This is when you bet whether the oddsmaker's line of 5.5 will go over (+120) or under (-140) the combined final score between the two teams. So far the over and under have cashed one game apiece although the over almost cashed in both games but thanks to a disallowed goal, game 2's final score total stayed at 5 (under 5.5). 

Category : Online Betting News

Tag : NHL , Penguins , Predators , stanley cup finals

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