Check out our NHL Game 3 best bets from our crew of hockey experts for Saturday, April 22.
The 2022-23 NHL postseason is well underway as we enter some momentum-swinging Game 3 matchups during today's four-game slate.
Below, check out our hockey crew's top picks, including Golden Knights vs. Jets and Maple Leafs vs. Lightning, for the playoff games.
Golden Knights vs. Jets Player Prop
Nicholas Martin: Through the opening two games of this series, Kyle Connor has put up 13 shots on goal. That lofty total has come from a ridiculous 19 total attempts at goal, with 16 of those going as unblocked shot attempts.
Connor has generated a wealth of shots on the Jets' man advantage, but he has also been very noticeable at even strength on a line with Pierre-Luc Dubois and Mark Scheifele.
We see it all the time when prominent shooters settle into a matchup and cash their shot prop total night after night in the playoffs. While watching these games, it seems like that could be the case with Connor in this series with the Knights.
The Jets' top unit should also draw slightly better matchups today at home owning the advantage of last change.
The initial +114 odds were too long to pass up considering Connor's play in the series thus far, so I'm still good with it at its current -102 price tag.
Pick: Kyle Connor over 3.5 SOG (-102) |
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Maple Leafs vs. Lightning Total
Ryan Dadoun: Tampa Bay claimed Game 1 with a 7-3 victory, and Toronto responded with a 7-2 win on Thursday.
Who will take Game 3 with the series heading to Tampa Bay? I don’t know, but I am expecting a third-straight high-scoring contest.
There are a couple of reasons for that. One is that these are two extremely skilled forward groups. Tampa Bay finished the regular
season with four players providing at least 30 goals (Brayden Point, Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov and Brandon Hagel), and Toronto managed to ice four of their own (William Nylander, Auston Matthews, John Tavares and Mitch Marner).
That helped the Lightning and Maple Leafs’ offenses to finish the campaign ranked eighth and ninth, respectively, and combined for an average of 6.8 goals per game. In other words, betting on these two teams scoring at least seven times really isn’t a stretch.
Another key consideration is Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy.
For as good as he is, Toronto seems to have his number. Over the Leafs’ last nine playoff outings against him, he’s surrendered at
least three goals on eight occasions. There’s always a chance that Vasilevskiy will have a show-stealing game, and that’s part of the risk in this bet.
However, I think it’s more likely that if the Lightning take Game 4, it will be thanks to their attack more than their defense.
