NHL Eastern Conference Round 2 Preview: Target Hurricanes

Round 2 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs is set to begin tomorrow night, with Tampa Bay visiting Florida and Colorado playing host to St Louis. Following those two matchups, the other conference semi-finals will begin on Wednesday with Carolina taking on New York, and Calgary hosting Edmonton.

Below, you can look at some odds available on the FanDuel Sportsbook for Round 2 of the playoffs.

Tampa Bay Lightning (+128) vs Florida Panthers (-154)

The Lightning and Panthers are set to meet for the second consecutive postseason, as Tampa Bay came out on top 4-2 en route to winning their second consecutive Stanley Cup. That series saw 41 total goals scored in six meetings, which means we should once again be in for plenty of offense.

At times, it felt like Florida was sleep-walking through their first-round series against the Washington Capitals, but they did manage to advance to the second round for the first time in 26-years. The current total goals scored for this series is set at 38.5, with both the over and under at -110.

Brayden Point is listed as doubtful for Game 1 of this series and that could be a big loss in terms of the goals scored, but it could also be an even bigger loss defensively for the Lightning, who’ve been using him on a shutdown line. With that notion in mind, you should likely expect even more goals to be scored this time around, and for the series to potentially go the distance, meaning the over 38.5 goals scored looks really nice at that price.

The Bet: Over 38.5 Goals Scored (-110)

New York Rangers (+172) vs Carolina Hurricanes (-210)

One of the most noticeable trends of the first round of the playoffs was how much New York’s top line struggled to create offense when Sidney Crosby was on the ice. They ultimately broke through in the seventh game of the series, but it was a trend worth monitoring nonetheless and should carry over to the second round against Carolina, especially considering how dominant the Hurricanes were defensively this season.

Despite their series with Boston Bruins going seven games, Carolina suffocated their offensive and that could be a big problem in Round 2 for New York. Igor Shesterkin can make the difference for the Rangers on his own, but that wasn’t what we saw in Round 1 where New York struggled immensely in front of him defensively and that could loom large here against a very opportunistic Hurricanes team.

There’s plenty that the Rangers will need to work on ahead of their series beginning on Wednesday against Carolina, but it’s difficult to say if that’s enough time to correct the glaring warts they showed against Pittsburgh. Carolina won three-of-four matchups against New York this season and outscored them 14-10 in doing so. On paper, the series might look closer than it actually is, but the Hurricanes should find a way to move in six games, which looks like a very good price at +420.

The Bet: Hurricanes in Six (+420)