The NHL Playoffs continue Friday night as the Florida Panthers head to Boston to face off against the Bruins in the Eastern Conference semifinals while the Dallas Stars travel to Colorado to take on the Avalanche in the Western Conference semifinals. Both Florida and Dallas own 3-2 series leads over their respective teams.
Can Boston or Colorado force a decisive Game 7 for Sunday? That’s the question bettors will find out Friday night. We’ll cover our top four NHL Playoff player prop bets for May 17 in the article below.
Florida had a chance to put away the series on Tuesday, but the Panthers struggled and dropped a 2-1 decision at home. Now, Florida will get their second chance to close this series out on Friday in Boston.
Panthers center Sam Reinhart isn’t to blame as the league’s second-leader scorer posted the lone goal in the game.
Expect Reinhart – who has six points through five games – to post at least one point to cover this player prop bet.
Boston defenseman Charlie McAvoy came up big for the Bruins in a win-or-go-home game Tuesday, scoring his first goal and adding his first assist to help the northern team force a Game 6 at home.
While McAvoy’s production was unexpected, Boston right wing David Pastrnak is expected to produce in this game.
The seventh-leading goal scorer this season has just one goal for the series, so expect the veteran to record at least four shots Friday night to cover this prop bet.
Dallas had a 3-1 lead over Colorado, but a 5-3 defeat Wednesday blacked out the Stars’ chances of clinching the series at home. Now, Dallas heads north to attempt to close out the Avalanche’s season on Friday.
In three victories, goalie Jake Oettinger has stopped 93% of the shots he faced and held Colorado to five goals.
In the two losses, the 6-foot-6 athlete has allowed nine goals on 53 shot attempts. Expect Oettinger to fall short again Friday night to avoid covering this player prop bet.
The Avalanche lost right wing Valeri Nichushkin after Saturday’s contest against the Stars. Nichushkin had scored nine goals this postseason, leading Colorado in scoring despite playing only eight games.
Enter left wing Artturi Lehkonen. The 5-foot-11 Finnish athlete scored and assisted a goal in his team’s 5-3 victory Wednesday. In the postseason, Lehkonen has scored six goals and assisted five others to rank fourth on the team in scoring.
While the defense will clamp down on center Nathan MacKinnon – the team’s leading scorer – Friday night, expect the left winger to have open looks at the goal. Lehkonen will record at least one score tonight to cover this player prop bet.