Jonathan Davis lined up his NHL best bets for Friday, April 24 with two playoff series that have already turned into shootouts, and the Montreal Canadiens were set to host Game 3 at the Bell Centre with their opening-round matchup tied after two overtime games in Tampa. The other matchup on his board sent Utah into its first-ever home playoff game after a road win Tuesday night flipped home ice against Vegas.
Montreal and Tampa Bay split the first two games in South Florida, and three of the last five meetings between the clubs have gone past regulation. Josh Anderson scored in each of the first two games and has goals in three of his last four overall, while Nikita Kucherov ended a 16-game goal drought by tying Game 2 and put five shots on goal in each of the first two contests. Darryn Raddysh has been busy, too, with 10 shots on goal through two games and at least four in each of his last four dating back to the regular season. Mike Matheson has helped keep Montreal afloat by piling up nine blocked shots through the opening two games.
Utah’s series with Vegas has been even faster and looser. Logan Cooley scored Utah’s first-ever playoff goal in Game 1 and then the winner in Game 2, giving him six goals in five games against the Golden Knights across the regular season and playoffs and goals in six of the eight games he has faced them. Mark Stone answered with goals in each of the first two games, has five against Utah goalie Karel Vejmelka and the Mammoth in seven games, and enters with goals in six of his last eight overall. Through two games, the teams have combined for 17 goals, both have scored at least three times, and the Over 6.5 has cashed twice.
That scoring pace is what drives the board. Davis pointed to Montreal-Tampa Bay markets built around the possibility of another long night, including shots and blocked-shot props tied to Anderson, Kucherov, Raddysh and Matheson, then turned to Utah-Vegas numbers that reflect the goals already piling up. The numbers tell the story more plainly than any series label: one matchup has already required overtime twice, the other has produced 17 goals and a home crowd waiting for the first playoff game it can call its own.
The tension in both series is that the results have not matched the flow. Montreal has split the first two games even though Tampa Bay’s attack has pushed the pace, and Utah has taken control of home ice while still needing to prove it can slow a Vegas team that keeps answering. Davis did not need to force that contradiction; the betting board did it for him. The question now is whether the next game follows the trend lines, or whether the series that have lived on extra time and high shot totals finally start to break the other way.