Nashville vs Pittsburgh Game 5 Preview
My Team's Next Match
The momentum has entirely shifted as the Nashville Predators now head back to Pittsburgh having tied the Stanley Cup Finals at two games apiece. After a rough start, Pekka Rinne has bounced back in a big way limiting the mighty Penguins to two total goals in the last two games. Sidney Crosby scored his first goal of the series in a beautiful breakaway but it wasn't enough as they return home to regroup. The winners of the pivotal game 5 usually end up winning it all.
| |
PUCKLINE |
MONEYLINE |
TOTAL |
| Predators |
+1.5 (-235) |
+115 |
o5.5 (+120) |
| Penguins |
-1.5 (+190) |
-135 |
u5.5 (-140) |
What a series it has been for the Penguins. They began the series being outplayed by Nashville but still scored more goals thanks in part to Pekka Rinne going cold and Matt Murray going hot. In the last two games, the Pens produced more offensive chances but got blown out anyhow thanks, this time to a role reversal as Rinne caught fire while Murray turned to swiss cheese. The Predators have generally dominated the Pens by shutting their top scorers out while finally wearing Murray out by constantly attacking him.
Defense wins championships. And in Nashville's case, their offense is filtered by their defense. General manager David Poile's masterwork is on full display as P.K. Subban is able to commit to his defensive growth while the likes of Mattias Ekholm, Ryan Ellis, and Roman Josi facilitate the puck movement and playmaking. Even with Ryan Johansen being injured and Filip Forsberg going on a drought, the Predators have managed to score an average of 4 goals per game. They are 0-2 in Pittsburgh but have the Penguins reeling.
The Pens' fate will rely on how well Murray can bounce back but more importantly if Pittsburgh's scanty defense can muster anything to slow the Predators' attack down. Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are winning the faceoffs and must do more to complete their plays because otherwise, the Predators win the transition on the open ice. Crosby and Malkin have yet to explode. Phil Kessel has yet to score. Jake Guentzel was held without a goal in game 4 and could bounce back as well.
Predators at Penguins Online Betting
Nashville's scoring-by-committee has so far trumped Pittsburgh's one-man Guentzel show thus far. In their game 4 victory, their main three goal scorers (Jarnkrok, Gaudreau, Arvidsson) had under two goals each. But thanks to nifty playmaking from the defense and role players like Craig Smith, Mike Fisher, and James Neal, they capitalized on their scoring chances. Nashville is two wins away from realizing their dream and it may not be as dominant as their two games at home but the Preds will upset the Penguins in a critical game 5.
Nashville Predators (+115)
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Betting on the NHL's money line is almost a coin flip even if the odds don't indicate otherwise. If playing it straight doesn't offer much value to you, the alternative options are the "puck line" and the total (over/under). Also, depending on your sportsbook, you can use prop bets to adjust the puck lines or over/unders to your liking. Each of these should be approached with a different mindset. Sportsbooks can offer up to a $200 signup bonus to help new bettors.
The puck line is the NHL's version of the point spread where the Predators (+1.5) have up to 1.5 goals to lose (1.5 is added to their final score) to cash their bet while the Penguins (-1.5) have to win by 1.5 goals minimum (1.5 is subtracted from their final score). 1.5 is rounded up to two in real hockey. In the last four games, all the -1.5 teams cashed and if you had bet a $100 on each you would have been up over $750.
Conventional wisdom dictates the +1.5 will eventually cash but so long as -1.5 remains close to 2-1 odds that is the bet to make. A common betting fallacy is betting against the winning line in anticipation the streak ends. Alternatively, the totals (combined final score between both teams) have alternated between over 5.5 and under 5.5 winning. But a trend in the series has been both teams scoring a combined 5 goals at least. This is almost a coin flip as that extra sixth goal could come under any circumstance.
Category : Online Betting News
Tag : NHL
, Penguins
, Predators
, stanley cup finals
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