NHL Playoffs: Welcome to Round 2! Dietel picks Stars v Blues and Blue Jackets v Bruins

Best Bet
BLUES (-155) over Stars (+135)

Next Best Bet
Blue Jackets (+130) over BRUINS (-150)

Welcome to Round 2 ladies and gentlemen! We are diving head first into the first slate of matchups today starting with the Blues vs Stars. St. Louis was one of the worst teams in the league as the season opened up but look at them now. They are firing on all cylinders; team chemistry is at an all-time high and they just defeated the Winnipeg Jets. No one would’ve thought they’d be where they are right now. They are looking to take down the stars tonight who happen to have a wealth of ‘star’ power for lack of a better term. Dallas has forwards Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin, Alexander Radulov and Mats Zuccarello who all help drive play up the ice and put pucks on net. With rookie defensemen Miro Heiskanen who has been a stud so far in the playoffs, the sky’s the limit. This certainly won’t be a cakewalk, but we think this St. Louis team has been through a lot together and that they can persevere, for at least tonight… Next, we head to Boston where the Blue Jackets, coming off of one of the most impressive sweeps in NHL history have another tall task; taking down the Bruins. The Jackets have gotten to rest for the better part of a week while the Bruins took it to game 7 with the Maple Leafs. Sometimes time off is a detriment to a team’s success as they can get unfocused, but we think that Columbus needs all the rest they can get for this gritty Bruins team. If they can take down Boston, there’s no one they can’t beat.