Knights-Hurricanes Game 5 parlay on Thursday: Vegas now has trouble scoring
It may be my last NHL preview of the season on Thursday night as the Vegas Golden Knights visit the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals where they are tied 2-2 with puck drop at 8 ET. Needless to say, the winner tonight can lift the trophy in Game 6 on Sunday when I’m gone. I hope Game 7 goes back to Raleigh next Wednesday and ends there.
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Golden Knights vs. Hurricanes of the same game
- Vegas alt +2.5
- Carolina alt Over 2.5 goals
FanDuel SGP price: +115
In fact, this series deserves to go seven games for as much fun as it was, and Carolina’s 5-3 road win in Game 4 on Tuesday was more of the same. I’ll admit that the Hurricanes’ blank goal ruined my +175 parlay for the Golden Knights +1.5 and the Canes Over 2.5 team goals. The empty netter is always a +1.5 risk bet in the NHL, but especially in the playoffs.
The Knights came out of a 3-1 hole in the second to tie it going into the third, but Jordan Staal’s seventh goal of the playoffs proved the winner at 6:32 of the third, and Nikolaj Ehlers put a stake in my heart with the EN score at 19:05. We were so close to a fourth consecutive one-goal game, and now the final four have seen at least seven goals in total.
It’s the first Stanley Cup Final in history in which a four-game winning team has rallied from a multi-goal deficit to at least tie the game. In addition, he is the third finalist in an expansion era (since 1967-68) to see each of the first four games tied at any point in the third quarter, and the first since Blackhawks-Lightning in 2015 (I remember that well) that the first five were so.
Finally, the 33 goals scored tied for the second-highest total through the first four games of the finals – needless to say, all four reached Over the total. We finally have 6.5 on the board for Game 5 totals, compared to only 5.5 and a few 6’s in the first four games.
Although the series was tied, and after he held a one-hitter in Game 4, Vegas forward Mitchell Marner remains the Conn Smythe Trophy favorite at 105 as he continues to lead the postseason by far with 29 points. But three Carolina players all received big raises from that future prop in Taylor Hall (now +380), Logan Stankoven (also +380) and Staal (+550).
Staal was the No. 1 star. 1 in Game 4 with two goals, and at age 37 and 272 days on Tuesday became the third oldest player to record a multi-goal game in the Stanley Cup Final. He has five goals in the series, the third most of any active player in a single Finals, and is the third player in the last 40 years to record four goals in any game in the Finals. To net tonight, the team captain is +370.
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The big story of Game 4 was Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour choosing to bench goaltender Frederik Andersen after he had started each game of the playoffs and giving rookie Brandon Bussi his first start. It wasn’t a surprise that happened, and Bussi felt relieved for Andersen who struggled in Game 3 and will surely remain the starter tonight after stopping 18 of 21 shots – including all nine in the third. Not bad for an undrafted rookie claimed off waivers last October.
What was shocking was that Andersen wasn’t moving at all, instead he was scratching well at backup Pyotr Kochetkov. Bussi presented a different challenge to the Vegas shooters, as he was right-handed and Andersen left-handed.
Brind’Amour said afterward that he would not commit to whether Andersen returns as a starter following the four-day layoff, but it would shock me if he stays as a starter. Bussi was off the board for the Conn Smythe but is now +15000.
I don’t see Vegas coach John Tortorella benching Carter Hart even though he’s been hit 16 times on 115 shots, leading to a 3.60 goals-against average and .861 save percentage in the series. But you may be on the short road. Hart is the first netminder in NHL history to give up at least four goals in each of the first four games of the Stanley Cup Final, but Carolina’s total is 3.5 in Game 5.
The Final will require six or more games for the third consecutive year and the sixth time in the last eight. Carolina stole home ice advantage and is -145 on the series line with Vegas at +120. That it ends with a sixth is -110 and a seventh -120. I like seven.
Vegas has outscored Carolina 9-1 in the second half of the four games, but the Golden Knights have been outscored 16-7 in the first, third and overtime periods combined. Tuesday was the third straight game in which the Knights allowed at least three goals in one period to the Canes.
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I see no reason why Carolina can’t score at least three goals tonight against a struggling Hart, but I also see no reason why the Knights lose by at least three goals, either. I was too chicken to play Vegas +1.5 (despite the best parlay value) because of the empty nonsense last time. Check out other options in the SportsLine newsletter.
