The 2023 NHL Playoffs Are Set; Almost

We’ve said it a few times in previous stories, but this has to be one of the best NHL seasons in recent memory with three division winners decided in the final two days of the season, and one featuring a record-breaking season by the Boston Bruins who finished with 135 points. After NHL Thursday Results, one division is yet to be decided. Let’s go through the NHL betting odds for the postseason and preview all scenarios in the undecided Central Division.

Atlantic Division: Dominate Bruins Open Against Panthers

To give you an idea of how good the Boston Bruins (65-12-5, 135 points) were this season, Jim Montgomery’s team suffered back-to-back losses twice in 2022-23. One of those streaks contained a loss to their first-round opponent Florida Panthers (4-3 OT), on January 28th.

Boston isn’t too worried about that result considering they own a 2-1-1 regular season mark against Florida (42-32-8, 92 points) and first-year Panther Head Coach Paul Maurice. Boston has opened a massive -320 to win the series. A Six game series is the favorite at +225, followed by five games +235. The Bruins were tops in the NHL with 1,923 units won, while the Panthers were not so kind to bettors finishing in the red (-1294 units).

Many would say that the Panthers were among the most disappointing teams in the league behind the Washington Capitals (-1802) and Pittsburgh Penguins (-1609) Finishing a distant second in the Atlantic Division, the Toronto Maple Leafs (50-21-11, 111 points) will open up at home against the defending Eastern Conference champion Tampa Bay Lightning (46-30-6, 98 points).

Toronto won the season series (2-0-1) while outsourcing the Lightning 11-8. The Leafs barely finished in the black for bettors with +111 units won for a blind $100 wager on Toronto throughout the year. Lightning bettors were not as fortunate after Jon Cooper’s team underachieved in the eyes of many (-935 units, ranked 24th).

Metro Division: Hurricanes Win Division By One Point

It was a terrific year for the New Jersey Devils (52-22-8, 112 points) who were not a participant in last year’s postseason. This year they’ll open up at home against the New York Rangers (47-22-13, 107 points) who they were undefeated against (3-0-1) in the NHL regular season.

In four games the Devils averaged 3.5 goals per game while allowing 2.75. We still think New Jersey will go the furthest of all the Metro teams which means the youth of the Devils will outlast the Ranger veterans. A glance at NHL team stats shows that the Devils would love to push the tempo after finishing fourth in the league with 3.52 goals per game against the Rangers whose goals-against average was also fourth allowing 2.63 goals per game.

Always entertaining hockey when there is a series with two contrasting ways to play. The Islanders emerged with a wildcard spot, they’ll face division foe Carolina in the first round. The Carolina Hurricanes won three of the four meetings this season, holding New York to just 2.25 goals per contest.

Central Division Down to The Last Game

Perhaps no division has been more entertaining than the Central Division where three teams (Colorado, Dallas, and Minnesota) battled for supremacy for the entire season. It seems fitting that tonight’s Colorado Avalanche vs. Nashville Predators game will determine who wins the division and which team faces the Seattle Kraken or the Minnesota Wild.

If Colorado wins in regulation or overtime they’ll surpass the Stars who have 108 points. Jared Bednar’s team must grab two points with Dallas owning the tiebreaker because of their 39-35 regulation win advantage. Here’s how it will play out, if the Avalanche win they’ll be Central champions and will face the Seattle Kraken. If they lose, the Avs first round match-up will be against the Minnesota Wild.

Colorado was 1-1-1 against the Kraken this season, and 2-1 against the Wild. Colorado is a -210 road favorite at Nashville, a number that will do nothing but rise until the puck drops. NHL Thursday Results didn’t give us a Central winner so all eyes will be on Nashville tonight.

Pacific Division: Knights Win But Oilers Team To Fear

The Vegas Golden Knights have won the Pacific Division for the third time in six seasons, but they did so by the skin of their teeth. The knights needed to sweep the Seattle Kraken to ward off the Edmonton Oilers who just couldn’t climb out of their early hole despite finishing the regular season on an 18-2-1 run.

Once again, the Knights spent the season maneuvering around injuries to multiple goaltenders starting with Robin Lehner who didn’t see the ice at all this year. Five different netminders saw action this season with Laurent Brossoit emerging as the strongest candidate to start their first-round match-up with the Winnipeg Jets after finishing the season 7-0-3 with 2.7 goals against. VGK swept the season series against the Jets, 3-0, scoring almost 4.5 goals per game in the series.

The Edmonton Oilers will take on the Los Angeles Kings in a postseason rematch from last season. If you remember, the shorthanded Kings lost the series but gave the Oilers fits as the series went a full seven games. This season, the two teams split four games with each game being as close as you would expect this series to be. Los Angeles limited the high-octane Oilers to just 2.25 goals per game.

NHL Thursday Results weren’t enough to solidify the playoff picture and hockey fans wouldn’t have it any other way.

Can’t get enough? Here’s more!

• Early Dark-Horse Picks for Stanley Cup: A Look Beyond The Bruins
• NHL Tuesday Playoff Update With Three Days Left
• NHL Monday Playoff Odds & Scores: April 10th, 2023
• NHL Weekend Playoff Odds: Tense Battles Define the Race for Postseason Glory
• Will Boston Break the Record? The Bruins’ Regular Season Points Odds