NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs Western Conference Best Bets 5/3/22

The NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs will see four teams from the Western Conference kick off their postseason tonight, headlined by the top-seeded Colorado Avalanche, who are heavy favorites in their first-round matchup.

Below, you can look at both Western Conference games on tonight’s NHL slate and at some of our best bets on the FanDuel Sportsbook.

Nashville Predators (+250) vs Colorado Avalanche (-315) Total: 6.5 (O-128, U+100)

The Predators are in a similar situation to the Penguins, where they’ll be without their number one goalie in Juuse Saros for at least the first two games of this series. There hasn’t been a decision made at this time about whether David Rittich or Connor Ingram will start in place of Saros, but there is no doubt that both are significant downgrades.

The Predators were actually one of very few teams to find consistent success against the Avalanche during the regular season, where they won three of four meetings. In those four matchups, we never saw less than seven goals scored, which is represented in tonight’s total that’s set at 6.5.

The Avalanche may be heavy favorites in this series and that’s expressed on the moneyline here tonight, but there should be plenty of goals scored, so you should likely look towards the over at -128.

Best Bet: Over 6.5 Goals (-128)

Dallas Stars (+184) vs Calgary Flames (-225) Total: 6 (O-105, U115)

The Calgary Flames are built for the playoffs with how their roster shapes out and they have the perfect coach to see them through the postseason in Darryl Sutter.

The Stars and Flames met three times during the regular season, which saw the Flames pick up two victories. In Calgary’s two wins against the Stars during the regular season, they totaled four goals in both victories, meaning you may want to turn your attention towards the Flames’ 60-minute total goals scored line, which is set at 3.5. The over 3.5 has some solid value at +100 and that’s a number you should be able to get behind on the board tonight.

Best Bet: Flames Over 3.5 Goals (+100) 60-Minute Total