What are the different types of NHL playoff bets?

Sports fans will argue about the leagues they love and claim that it is the best and the most difficult to win.

There are certainly some valid arguments, but when you look at the physical nature of the NHL combined with the length of the regular season and the playoffs, it’s hard to say that the Stanley Cup is not the toughest trophy to win.

NHL Playoff Bets Analysis

We are now about halfway through the regular season, so there is still a lot of hockey to come before we get to the playoffs, but that doesn’t mean we can’t start talking about the different types of wagers that are available once the postseason begins.

We thought that it might be fun to look at the upcoming games this week and use some of them to talk about the different types of bets available in the NHL, and particularly the playoffs.

Basic NHL Playoff Bets

The three basic bets that you play in the NHL in the regular season all carry over into the playoffs, but for those of you who might be new to the sport, let’s take a moment to break them down quickly. For the purposes of this portion, we will be looking at the Florida Panthers/New Jersey Devils game set to be played on Tuesday night.

Moneyline

This is basically just a straight-up bet where you try to pick the winner of the game. The Devils and Panthers have met twice this season, with the Devils winning both, so it is perhaps no surprise that New Jersey is favored at odds of -150, while the Panthers are +130. Sweeping every game in a regular season series is tough, so it might not be a bad idea to take a shot with the Panthers.

Spread

One great thing about the NHL is that the spread tends to be consistent. If you look at the odds for every game on Tuesday night, you will see that the favorite in each game is at -1 ½, but the odds tend to be very good, as we very often get close games in the NHL. The Devils are favored by 1 ½ over the Panthers. They have covered that spread in both previous meetings this season, so it might be the way to go again, unless you are of the belief that the Panthers can change the trend.

Total

Generally speaking, the total for each NHL game is set between 5 ½ and 6 ½ goals. The total for the Panthers/Devils game is set at 5 ½, but the previous meetings make this a tricky bet. In their previous two meetings this season, the goal totals were 8 and 5, respectively. The recent form might give you a better idea of how to play this particular bet on Tuesday night.

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NHL Playoff Wagers

Of course, all the wagers we just discussed will be available to you when the playoffs roll around, but they are always a little tougher to nail, as we tend to see ebbs and flows in momentum over the course of a 7-game series. Besides the individual game wagers, though, there are a ton of other wagers available to you, so let’s take a look at those.

Series Wagers

Things can be as simple or as complex as you like when betting on each series. For this section, let’s take a look at the Edmonton Oilers and Minnesota Wild, who will go head-to-head on Wednesday. If the season were to end today, both of these teams would be in the playoffs and potentially on a collision course. They will meet 3 times in the regular season, which could give some hint as to how things might go in the playoffs.

The first thing to consider when making a wager on the series is who you think will win and move on. These two teams have split the regular season series to this point, with the road team winning each game. Home ice advantage is always big in the postseason, but as you can see, it is not the be all and end all of how things might play out. Another thing you can wager on is the outcome of the series in terms of the number of games. Given that these two have split in the regular season, there is a good chance that a playoff series might go 6 or 7 games, so keep that in mind when you wager.

Conference Wagers

When the playoffs come around, the bracket is split into two, with the Eastern Conference on one side and the Western Conference on the other. The winner of each conference heads to the Stanley Cup Final. Of course, the #1 seed on each side have the edge, as they have home ice advantage through the conference playoffs.

If you favor one team over all the others, then you could play them to win each series all the way to the Stanley Cup Final, whilst also trying to pick how many games each series will last.

Another good bet that is available at this stage is predicting which two teams will meet in the Final. The odds for this will become available closer to the time.

Stanley Cup Final Wagers

Again, the wagers for the Stanley Cup Final begin with playing each individual game. By this point, some definite trends should have merged, making it easier to decide how to play all 7 games, assuming it goes that long.

You also have the option to pick the straight-up winner of the series, as well as the number of games it will take for the winning team to hoist the most iconic trophy in sports. Hopefully, you will have played smart all the way through the playoffs so that you can get into the Final wagers with some extra money in your bankroll.

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