NHL Betting Preview: Stanley Cup Playoffs Round 1

• The Tampa Bay Lightning have -171 odds to beat the Columbus Blue Jackets.
• The Dallas Stars are favored to beat the Calgary Flames with -110 odds.
• The Boston Bruins have -135 odds to beat the Carolina Hurricanes.
• The Vegas Golden Knights have -201 odds to beat the Chicago Blackhawks.

TORONTO – NHL fans and bettors should be jumping with joy right now as playoff hockey is set to get underway today.

There are four playoff games going on Tuesday including two from the Eastern Conference and two from the Western Conference.

Starting at 3:00 p.m. EST, online sportsbooks have the Tampa Bay Lighting taking on the Columbus Blue Jackets where the Lighting are favored with -171 odds while the Blue Jackets are at +154 odds.

The Lighting are favored being that they have the second-best record in the eastern conference while the Blue Jackets are at the ninth-best record. Also, these two did face off once before where the Lightning won with a 2-1 score. Knowing this, bettors can go ahead and bet on the lighting in game one.

There should be no questions as to why the under is favored here and bettors should not be hesitating to take it at all. In the Blue Jackets five qualifying games, they only hit the over two times while in the Lightnings three qualifying games, they did not hit it at all.

Not to mention, in their previous game, it was not hit either.

Calgary Flames Vs. Dallas Stars

The second game of the day will feature the Dallas Star and the Calgary Flames while the Stars NHL odds are favored.

Dallas is favored here but the Flame could very well pull off an upset. These two have met three times during the regular season where the Flame took two of the three games.

Calgary has also been on a bit of a hot streak since entering the postseason as they have gone 3-1 while Dallas has gone 1-2. Despite being only a couple games behind the Stars, bettors can take the risk and bet on the Flame in game one for a nice payout.

As for the total points, the over being favored should be a bit concerning. Both teams managed to hit the over just once in their previous three meetings and thy also pushed once as well.

The Flame have gone over once in their five postseason games while the Stars have also gone over just once. Bettors should see this and take advantage of the longshot opportunity by betting the under here.

Carolina Hurricanes Vs. Boston Bruins

In the second Eastern Conference game of the day, the Boston Bruins will be taking on the Carolina Hurricanes at 8:00 where the Bruins are favored.

The Bruins are clearly the favorite here being that they not only have the best record in the Eastern Conference but in the entire NHL at that matter. To back up their odds even more, they defeated the Hurricanes in their only meeting of the season before it coronavirus shut it down.

The under here is favored as neither team has hit the over at all since entering the postseason format. To back up the under odds even more, in their only meeting of the season they did not even come close to the over. Bettors should be taking the under here for the easy cash.

Chicago Blackhawks Vs. Vegas Golden Knights

In the final game of the day and second playoff game in the Western Conference, the Vegas Golden Knights are the favorites to defeat the Chicago Blackhawks.

Vegas is the heavier favorite here being that they have two wins under their belts against the Blackhawks already in the three total games they’ve played. Vegas also has a hot hand right now as they are undefeated against since the postseason started.

Not to take anything away from the Blackhawks as they are on an impressive run right now as well but Vegas has had a hot hand all season. Bettors can bet on Vegas here for an easy win.

As for the total points, those willing to take the risk can to so here by betting the over as both teams have been on a scoring frenzy since the restart. In their four games, the Blackhawks have gone over three times while the Golden Knights have gone over in all of their three games.

This should be more than enough for bettors to bet the longshot here for a nice win.