The NHL Playoffs continue Friday night as the two top seeds in the Eastern and Western conferences square off for series supremacy. The early matchup pits the Boston Bruins against the Florida Panthers while the late faceoff matches the Edmonton Oilers against the Vancouver Canucks.
What players should bettors watch in tonight’s contests? We’ll cover the top four NHL Playoff player prop bets below.
The Bruins are the only team remaining in the field that has won the Stanley Cup in the past 20 years. After falling behind 3-2 in their opening-round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Boston had to win both back-to-back contests in order to continue toward their first NHL championship since 2011.
Boston left wing Brad Marchand scored eight points for his team through the first four games of the Toronto series before being held scoreless over the final three games. Marchand picked up an assist in each game to start this series against Florida, and the 35-year-old veteran looks primed to continue his run Friday night and record at least one point against the Panthers.
Florida has unfinished business after reaching the Stanley Cup finals last season for only the second time in the franchise’s brief history. During the regular season, the Panthers won 52 games. It’s the second time in the team’s history the franchise has achieved that mark as Florida recorded 58 wins during the 2021-2022 season.
Goalie Sergei Bobrovsky is a big reason why the Panthers remain feared. The 14-year veteran finished tied for first with six shutouts this season while surrendering a third-best 2.37 goals per game. With Boston desperate to even the series, expect the Bruins to come out firing shots all night and for Bobrovsky to cover this player prop bet with ease.
When Boston won their last Stanley Cup in 2011, the Bruins’ opponent was none other than the Canucks. Since then, Vancouver has not advanced beyond the Western Conference semifinals despite making five more appearances over the past 13 seasons. The Canucks join the Panthers as the only two remaining teams without an NHL Championship to their credit.
Veteran center J.T. Miller is looking to etch his name into history with a career-defining postseason. Through seven games, Miller has scored seven points. His two goals have come on 18 shots, or an average of 2.5 shots per game. Expect the 31-year-old center to launch that many attacks tonight as he has in four of those seven playoff games thus far.
For the third consecutive year, Edmonton has advanced to the Western Conference semifinals. The Oilers reached the conference championship in 2021-2022, the deepest run this once-proud franchise has experienced since a surprise run to the 2006 Stanley Cup finals as an eighth seed.
To even the series, Edmonton needs left wing Zach Hyman to continue his epic postseason run. Through six playoff games, the 31-year-old veteran has scored nine goals to lead the Oilers in that department. After scoring two goals in the series-opening loss to Vancouver, expect Hyman to punch through another puck and cover this player prop bet.
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Earnest is a 25-year veteran of the newspaper industry. He's spent the majority of his early years working as a sports reporter and editor. He made the move back to the digital world in 2022, joining EatWatchBet as a senior writer. Ernie covers college football betting, fantasy football, and NFL betting for EatWatchBet.