It all comes down to Game 7 tonight for the Montreal Canadiens and Buffalo Sabres in the NHL Eastern Conference semifinals. Puck drop is set for 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.
The Sabres routed the Canadiens, 8-3, at Bell Centre on Saturday to even the series at 3-3. Montreal now needs to win on the road to advance.
DraftKings is dealing Buffalo as a -118 home favorite with a total of 5.5. 61% of the moneyline handle and 66% of the tickets are on the Sabres.
Best Bet Canadiens vs. Sabres: OVER 5.5 (-108)
Despite the tendency to play conservatively in Game 7, these two teams have opened the floodgates over the past two games, combining for 20 goals.
Additionally, every game in the series has gone OVER 5.5, except Game 4, which finished 3-2 in Buffalo’s favor. A total of 21 goals (7 per game) have been scored in the three games played in Buffalo so far.
Buffalo’s goaltending has been highly inconsistent in this series, with the Sabres yo-yoing back and forth with Alex Lyon and Ukka-Pekka Luukkonen. Regardless of who starts tonight, there’s a decent chance both will play.
Cole Caufield has come alive for Montreal, scoring goals in three of the last four games. Given that and the stellar play of linemate Nick Suzuki (3 goals, 6 points against Buffalo), we lean toward a Montreal win in a game that goes OVER.
Pick: OVER 5.5 (-108)
Best Player Prop for Montreal Canadiens
Nick Suzuki OVER 0.5 Assists (-140)
Suzuki (pictured above) is Montreal’s best distributor of the puck, setting up Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky time and again in the offensive zone.
Those three players are also Montreal’s top power-play unit, so Suzuki will have plenty of chances to hit the score sheet with an assist.
Suzuki, who led the Habs with 72 assists in the regular season, notched two assists in the Game 7 win over Tampa Bay in the opening round. His pass-first mentality makes this a strong play tonight.
Best Player Prop for Buffalo Sabres
Josh Doan OVER 0.5 Points (-115)
Josh Doan has been a revelation in the series against Montreal. He carried a five-game point scoring streak into Game 6 before getting shut out. We’re backing Doan to hit the score sheet again tonight.
If you combine our two player props and the OVER 5.5 in a same-game parlay, it will pay out at +475 odds if all three hit. A $10 bet will return $47.50 in profit and your stake back if it wins.
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