Best NHL Playoff Prop Bets for April 25 (Lightning Need Nikita Kucherov To Step Up against Panthers)
By Nate Duffett
Thursday night will be a light slate compared to the rest of the playoffs, as just two Eastern Conference games occur. The Western Conference gets the night off before returning to the ice for three matchups on Friday.
The Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers kick off the night, with the Lightning trying to claw their way back from a 2-0 deficit. The Lightning played exceptional on Tuesday but a Carter Verhaeghe overtime winner put their deficit at two games.
The Panthers have some problems, as Sam Bennett took a slapshot off the hand which will keep him out of the lineup for some time. The Lightning are no strangers to a 2-0 series deficit, as they rallied from the same fate to win a Stanley Cup in 2020.
The New York Islanders are also trying to return from a 2-0 deficit in their series against the Carolina Hurricanes. The Islanders thought they earned a split in Game 2, but they blew a 3-0 lead to lose 5-3.
Islanders head coach Patrick Roy started "backup" Semyon Varlamov in Games 1 and 2, but will return to Ilya Sorokin for a spark in Game 3.
NHL Playoffs Prop Bets for April 25
- Nikita Kucherov To Record 2+ Points
- Brayden Point Anytime Goal Scorer
- Ilya Sorokin OVER Saves
Nikita Kucherov To Record 2+ Points
The Lightning scored just four goals over their two games in Florida. They ran into a hot Sergei Bobrovsky, but will need to solve him if they want to stay in this series. It starts and ends with Nikita Kucherov, who led the league with 144 points.
The Panthers are one of the best teams in the league and will likely win this series. However, it'd be hard to believe if they went up 3-0 in the series. You can expect the Lightning's stars to put forth their best effort to stay in this one.
Kucherov isn't the reason they're down 2-0, but two assists in two games are pedestrian by his standards. The last five games haven't been great for Kucherov but he had a streak of five multi-point games before that.
Brayden Point Anytime Goal Scorer
This play is a direct correlation to the bet on Nikita Kucherov. He scored off a feed from Kucherov in Game 2 and will need to do more of the same to help his team in Game 3. Point had goals in three of his last five games during the regular season, and was tied for eighth in the league with 46.
It hasn't been a great start to the playoffs or regular season for the Lightning. The Battle of Florida has shifted in the Panthers' favor, and a sweep in this series would start plenty of questions about Tampa Bay's core.
The Panthers could come away victorious in this game, but it's hard to shake the feeling that the core has a couple more punches to throw before they bow out.
Ilya Sorokin OVER Saves
The Islanders' starter had to sit and watch the series' first two games as Semyon Varlamov put him in a two-game hole. Patrick Roy opted to start Varlamov, who did have better numbers than Sorokin during the regular season.
Sorokin went 25-19-12, with a .909 save percentage and a 3.01 goals-against average. Varlamov appeared in just 28 games, going 14-8-4, with a .918 save percentage and 2.60 GAA.
Varlamov had to make 34 saves in Game 2 with the Hurricanes pouring on the pressure. He faced just 25 shots in Game 1, but that game was uncharacteristically low-event for Hurricanes' games. The Islanders also aren't the same slow and defensive team we've seen in the past.
Sorokin will likely see a lot of rubber from a rolling Hurricanes team, and you can expect him to answer the bell on home ice. He was 15-7-5 on home ice this season, with a 2.81 GAA and a .914 save percentage.
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
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