NHL Friday (8/7) night Parlay

Game 1: Pittsburgh Penguins – Montreal Canadiens
Total goals – Under 6.5 (60 Mins) @ -315
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Game 2: Edmonton Oilers – Chicago Blackhawks
Total Goals – Under 7.5 (60 Mins) @ –245
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Parlay Odds @ -117

NHL, Friday night and we are in it to win it again. We are looking at another parlay consisting of games from the dramatic best-of-five series. The underdogs Montreal Canadiens and Chicago Blackhawks could both, potentially, be qualified for the Stanley Cup playoffs tonight – but most likely it will be very tight.

04.00 PM ET, Friday, August 7

Montreal Canadiens defeated the Penguins 4-3 in game 3 of the Stanley Cup qualifiers to taking the lead 2-1 in this best-of-five series. The Canadiens were down 3-1 but scored three straight goals to turn the game around in a great comeback that took them to pole position when entering game 4.

Pittsburgh Penguins did not manage to repeat the disciplined performance that made them win game 2 3-1 on Tuesday. Most people held the Penguins as favorites in this series and now they are forced to step up in order to survive. The Sidney Crosby-led team was ranked as number five in the Eastern Conference while the Canadiens were number 12 and they do possess the individual qualities to play on a higher level than their opponent.

Conclusions and betting play: Things are looking a bit worrying for the Pittsburgh Penguins side. They were not able to close down the Canadiens while being two goals up in the second period and if they ever did – they will not under-estimate the Canadiens again.

The Penguins defeated the Canadiens in 2 out of 3 games during the regular season and all in all 5 goals or less have been scored in 5 out of 6 games this season, including this best-of-five play-in series. The last game was the exception as 7 goals were scored.

I find reasons to believe that we will get to see a more focused and disciplined Pittsburgh Penguins in the upcoming game 4. The outcome is unpredictable but I predict that there also will be a game 5 of this series. I do not think that the Penguins will concede 4 goals in this game but they still have to work hard to create their chances against a Montreal Canadiens that will pay a lot of attention to continuing playing tight in their defensive zone.

Betting play: Total goals – Under 6.5 (60 Mins) @ -315

06.45 PM ET, Friday, August 7

Chicago Blackhawks scored the winning goal to make it 4-3 in game 3 with only 1:16 remaining of the third period. This means they are now up 2-1 in this much-entertaining best-of-five series. The Blackhawks also won game 1 6-4 but were defeated 6-3 in game 2 and are now only one win from reaching the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time since 2017.

Edmonton Oilers ended the regular season on a fifth place, eleven points ahead of the Chicago Blackhawks in the Western Conference but are now in trouble in this series. Their style of play does not seem to fit very well against their hard-working opponent and their defensive play has obviously not been very solid as they have conceded 13 goals in three games so far.

Conclusions and betting play: 10 goals were scored in game 1, 9 goals were scored in game 2, and 7 goals were scored in game 3. This truly is the most open and, in that sense, most entertaining best-of-five series of them all but the trend still is that the games become more and more tight.

The favorites, Edmonton Oilers, really have to play smarter than what they have done in the previous encounters to stay in this series and I believe they aim to do so in the upcoming game 4. They can not gamble at this point. Individually, they are the better team but they must perform as a unit to cope with the team efforts that have characterized the Blackhawks’ performances.

No one can possibly know what to expect from game 4 of this wild series but the trend is that fewer goals are scored in each encounter and the under 7.5 goal line still is a highly valuable betting pick.

Betting Play: Total Goals – Under 7.5 (60 Mins) @ -245

Game 1: Pittsburgh Penguins – Montreal Canadiens
Total goals – Under 6.5 (60 Mins) @ -315
+
Game 2: Edmonton Oilers – Chicago Blackhawks
Total Goals – Under 7.5 (60 Mins) @ –245
=
Parlay Odds @ -117