The Winnipeg Jets and Nashville Predators put a cap to an epic playoff series with Game 7 on Thursday at 8 p.m. ET. The host Predators are -150 on the money line, meaning you'd need to risk $150 to win $100, while Winnipeg is +130 (risk $100 to win $130). The Over-Under, or total number of goals Vegas thinks will be scored, is 5.5.
Before you make your pick, you need to see what SportsLine expert David Kelly has to say. A Toronto-born hockey analyst with multiple advanced degrees, Kelly has been one of the nation's premier hockey handicappers, earning more than $5,000 for $100 bettors this season.He knows the ins and outs of these two teams, going 31-11 on Nashville games and 17-9 on Winnipeg.
Now, using his proprietary data models and unmatched knowledge of the game, Kelly has examined Game 7 from every angle. We can tell you Kelly is leaning Over, but he has a strong money line pick, and you won't discover his reasons buried in any box score. He's sharing it over at SportsLine.
Kelly knows Nashville is back home after taking Game 6, a 4-0 shutout in Winnipeg. But the Jets have taken two of three in Tennessee this series. The teams have swapped wins all series long.
The series couldn't be any closer. Each team has exactly 338 shots, and exactly 177 shots on goal at even strength."Winnipeg's only possible flaw was their collective lack of playoff pressure experience, which they got slapped in the face with to the tune of a 4-0 whiteout at home," Kelly told SportsLine. "I consider [Game 6] to be a major wake-up call."Mark Scheifele has nine goals and five assists in the postseason for Winnipeg, while Nashville has been driven by Filip Forsberg, who leads the team in both playoff goals (7) and assists (8).Kelly noted before the series that these were the two best teams in the NHL. His feelings on that haven't changed after six games.
So which team does Kelly believe advances to the Western Conference finals? Visit SportsLine now to get David Kelly's exclusive pick, all from an incomparable NHL expert who's 31-11 on picks involving the Predators.Before the 2018 NHL playoffs even began, the possible matchup between the Nashville Predators and the Winnipeg Jets was viewed as arguably the best series of the postseason, with these two being legitimate Stanley Cup contenders.
Well, there is a strong case for that holding true, as we are now on to a Game 7 to cap off a wild series.Throughout the postseason lineups, these may be the top two teams in hockey. But one has to go home after Thursday night. So with a mountainous challenge ahead of each club to even advance to the Western Conference Final, what are their odds of hoisting the Cup?
The Tampa Bay Lightning are the favorites to win it all, according to OddsShark, after cruising to the Eastern Conference Final in 10 games. The Vegas Golden Knights did the same, which explains their odds, but expect the winner of Thursday's Game 7 to move within the top two favorites since both are worse off with the contest being a toss-up.
So what do you need to know ahead of Game 7 before the Stanley Cup odds are shaken up?Playing on home ice, especially in rowdy atmospheres like those in Nashville and Winnipeg, typically leads to a healthy advantage. That is not the case in this series.
Both teams boast two wins on the road, with the past victory for each coming in decisive fashion, as the Jets smoked the Predators 6-2 in Game 5 before Nashville came back with a 4-0 shutout in Game 6. Now we will see wheteher this unusual trend comes to light once more as the series shifts to Nashville for the first home Game 7 in franchise history.
Entering these playoffs, Nashville was 15-5 over the past three postseasons at Bridgestone Arena. In 2018, the Predators are a mediocre 3-3, with opponents outscoring them 22-19.
However, they are outshooting Winnipeg by a healthy margin in three home games, 129-101. But Connor Hellebuyck has been great for the Jets on the road this season, sporting a 2.38 goals-against average and a .927 save percentage in the regular season. He has generally continued that play in the postseason, including a 47-save masterpiece in Game 1 against Nashville.
The Jets are 3-2 on the road this postseason while outscoring opponents 18-14, but history says that going on the road in Game 7—of which this will be the first in franchise history as the Jets/Atlanta Thrashers—does not favor Winnipeg, per Sportsnet Stats:The battle of which top players for Winnipeg and Nashville would outperform the other was fascinating considering the amount of star power on each club. The two sides have pretty much matched the other, hence we have a Game 7 upcoming.The Jets boast the NHL's best group of top-six forwards, in addition to Dustin Byfuglien on defense. Mark Scheifele and Blake Wheeler have combined for 27 points through 11 games. Byfuglien has 12 points while averaging 26 minutes, 21 seconds of ice time.
Patrik Laine and Paul Stastny have been stout, while Kyle Connor has dazzled at times, especially in Game 5, as Sportsnet highlighted:
