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NHL Playoffs Betting Previews- Nashville Predators at Vancouver Canucks
Spread: Vancouver -1.5
Money Line: Nashville +180, Vancouver -220
Over/Under: 5
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The Nashville Predators will try and stave off elimination when they travel to Rogers Arena for Game 5 of their best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal matchup with the Vancouver Canucks this Saturday night. The puck is set to drop at 8 p.m. (ET) and the game will be broadcast nationally on VERSUS.
Nashville was able to carry the momentum from its six-game series win over Anaheim in round one into this series to carve out a 1-1 start with a 2-1 overtime victory in Game 2 as a 189 road underdog. Unfortunately it was short lived after losing the next game 3-2 in overtime as a 107 home underdog followed by a 4-2 loss on Thursday night as a 115 home dog in Game 4.
The Predators’ offense has struggled against the Canucks; scoring a total of just six goals after averaging 3.67 goals a game against the Ducks. Right winger Joel Ward leads the team with five goals and nine points and centers’ David Legwand and Mike Fisher each has three goals and three assists this postseason, but their efforts have fallen short when they needed to score the most.
Pekka Rinne has done s decent job between the pipes for Nashville, but was peppered with 74 shots in the last two games; stopping 67 of them for a .905 save percentage. He now has a goals-against-average of 2.57 and a .907 save percentage in 10 playoff games. Nashville has really struggled against the power play this postseason with a league-worst 68.6 percent kill rate.
It took Vancouver awhile to get in gear in these playoffs with a nail-biting seven game series against No.8 seed Chicago and a loss in Game 2 at home in this one, but it now seems to be running at full-speed in pursuit of a Stanley Cup title. It has won four of its last five games overall and is 2-1 at home in its last three.
The Canucks have only averaged 2.27 goals a game over the 11 game played, but they have now scored seven in their last two led by Ryan Kessler’s three goals. Daniel Sedin leads the team with five goals and his brother Henrik has seven assists. Left winger Alexandre Burrows has also be productive with four goals and four assists.
Vancouver goalie Roberto Luongo was shaky at times in the series against the Blackhawks, but has tightened things up against Nashville with a stellar 94.9 save percentage including stopping 44 of 46 shots in Game 2. He only faced 21 shots on Thursday night as the entire team has stepped up its defensive efforts. The Canucks have also done a good job at keeping the power play in check with a 84.1 percent kill rate.
Nashville is 3-4 as an underdog in the playoffs and the total is 6-2-2 in the 10 games played. Vancouver is 6-3 as a favorite and the total is 4-5-2 in 11 playoff games.
Head-to-head, the teams split their four game regular season series with each winning once at home and once on the road, but the Canucks have now won four out of the last five games overall. The total has stayed ‘under’ in six of the last eight games.
The odds makers have the Vancouver Canucks as a -1.5 point favorite with an over/under of 5.
Check out the latest NHL Hockey Odds here.
Prediction: Vancouver has no desire to go back to Nashville for a Game 6, so stick with the Canucks, behind another strong effort by Luongo, to end this series in five with a win on Saturday.
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