The NHL postseason rolls on Friday night with a pair of Game 5s. The Carolina Hurricanes meet the New York Rangers with the series knotted up at two games apiece, while the Calgary Flames look to stay alive, down 3-1 to the Edmonton Oilers.
NHL betting analyst Nicholas Martin breaks down his four favorite plays from tonight’s pair of crucial Game 5s.
Carolina Hurricanes vs. New York Rangers, 7 p.m. ET
Andrei Svechnikov Over 0.5 Points (+100, Play to -110)
Andrei Svechnikov is one of the more talented players in the entire league, but has had a dismal start to the postseason, managing just four points in 10 games.
Because of that, this will look like a somewhat suspect play. However, just like we saw from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins in the other series, sometimes these buy-low spots hold value with the right indicators in place.
Svechnikov had eight shots on 13 attempts through the two contests in New York, and was notably more involved. He's still skating on a reasonably talented second line as well as on the Canes' power-play unit, and I think he will find a way to make a difference tonight.
Even in a low-scoring series, he's way too talented of a player to remain off the score-sheet and I believe the breakthrough is due to come soon.
Edmonton Oilers vs. Calgary Flames, 9:30 p.m. ET
Mikael Backlund Over 0.5 Points (+120, Play to +110)
The battle of Alberta has been a much more natural target for individual player props given the high-scoring, up-tempo nature we have seen consistently throughout the four games.
We saw the Flames score 12 times combined in the two contests in Calgary, and I believe that high offensive output at home continues tonight in this massive do-or-die spot.
Mikael Backlund played a really strong contest in Game 4, and was heavily involved in his 20:31 of ice time, including an important goal. The Flames' second unit of Backlund, Andrew Mangiapane and Blake Coleman is one I have targeted often in this series, to mixed results.
I continue to believe that Calgary's second unit is going to skate in a lot of winnable matchups against Edmonton, and getting long numbers for each to record a point holds value.
Andrew Mangiapane Over 0.5 Points (+135, Play to +120)
Andrew Mangiapane features a highly underrated skill-set, as evidenced by his 35-goal, 55-point regular season. Similar to what I mentioned about Backlund, I believe we are going to see the Flames' second unit make a difference, and targeting these two at long numbers in a game which I believe will remain high-scoring makes sense.
For potential DFS readers, I think a stack involving the two could certainly be an option to consider, especially considering the less chalky nature of the play.
Evander Kane Over 3.5 Shots (-110, Play to -120)
After a ridiculous run cashing this number in 10-of-13 games entering this series, Kane has surprisingly missed this number in three of this series' four games so far. He is still generating a ton where it truly matters, managing five goals and one assist to start the series.
As you would expect while skating alongside Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, Kane has received a ton of chances to shoot, and even in this series is still averaging six attempts on goal per game.
