Florida vs Tampa Bay NHL Best Bet: Tuesday, May 17th

It’s a Sunshine State battle between Florida and Tampa Bay as the two teams open a monster Playoff series in hopes of advancing to the Eastern Conference finals. Our resident NHL guru Ej Garr has your winning tip on the total because goals will be the call of the night.

NHL Playoffs Best Bet May 17th

• Florida vs Tampa Bay: Over 7 Goals (OT Included)

Odds as of 10:00 am May 17th, 2022. Odds may now differ.

Florida vs Tampa Bay Best Bet

May 18, 00:05 (UK time)

The line setters are tipping their hand again because we have yet to see a straight 7 offered on a total from any game these two have played to this point. None of the 7 games that Tampa played with the high-flying Leafs saw a 7 on a total and all 6 games between Florida and Washington also featured 6.5 on the total each night.

The Lightning proved why they are back-to-back Stanley Cup Champions showing a ton of grit to come back in their series with Toronto. Luckily, the Leafs fold in the playoffs like a lawn chair and they did it again letting the Ning take games 6 and 7 after taking a 3 – 2 series lead.

So, did the Leafs simply choke, or was it just the temperament of the Lightning who have that chip on their shoulder having proved they can come back and win big games when they need to? It’s a combination of both but that is all just history and make no mistake that the mood of the locker room after the big win in game 7 on the road was just to focus on Florida now. 

Coach Cooper undoubtedly told his gents to soak in this big win in Toronto and put it in the rear-view mirror as fast as possible to focus on Florida. Now, they get to stay in the State of Florida this entire series with the winner moving on to play either the NY Rangers or Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference finals.

The two teams split their season series with 2 wins apiece from their 4 meetings, although most of those encounters happened quite a while ago. I don’t think anyone is looking at their history against each other this season as a factor towards who will win this series because what happened in October and November really means nothing in May. The post-season is a different animal and this series is going to be full of hits, full of goals, and full of emotion. 

If you recall, last year was the first time that these two franchises had ever met in the NHL playoffs and we know how that went. Florida has revenge on their minds for that series loss a season ago but the Panthers look a bit different than they did last year too.

Bringing over a veteran player like Claude Giroux on March 14 to bolster the power play and present problems for opposing defenders was a big move. Giroux is starving for a trophy and he scored goals in both of the final two games against Washington to knock the Caps out of the playoffs after going down 2 – 1 in the series. Both the Ning and Cats were down in their opening playoff series but they each found the fortitude to overcome the deficits and land here.

Playoff series prices for this matchup appear as follows:

Tampa Bay: 2.40
Florida: 1.625     

Well, Tampa Bay holds the value but Florida has the home-ice advantage and a game 7 would be played in their barn if we get there. Oh, I hope we get there because I am thinking that goals will be scored throughout this series and the longer they play the more chances we’ll get to cash an Over. A game 7 on the road didn’t stop Tampa Bay from going into Toronto and winning so all of that is just geography.

Game 1 Over 7 is in the books and I hope they go bonkers because the NHL Grand Salami is 13.5 between the two games tonight. I have been betting on hockey since the 1990s and I have made a play on the NHL Grand Salami since the day they started putting such a prop out there. If you are a totals bettor you know why the Salami can be profitable and I will suggest you think about playing that 13.5 to go over as well. I am covering both games tonight and goal-scoring will be a theme in the Rangers / Canes series as well. 

• Selection: Over 7 Goals
• Best odds: 2.04 (Pinnacle)
• Stakes 4/10

Odds as of 10:00 am May 17th, 2022. Odds may now differ.

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