{"id":117810,"date":"2026-05-01T15:41:46","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T14:41:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/?p=117810"},"modified":"2026-05-01T15:46:40","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T14:46:40","slug":"friday-nhl-picks-canadiens-looking-to-close-out-the-lightning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/hockey\/nhl\/friday-nhl-picks-canadiens-looking-to-close-out-the-lightning\/","title":{"rendered":"Friday NHL Picks: Canadiens Looking to Close Out the Lightning"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":117436,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[775],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-117810","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nhl"],"acf":{"brief_description":"It's a big night in the NHL, with the Habs, Golden Knights and Sabres looking to wrap it up, and the Raps hosting the Cavs, down 3-2","auto_update_sportal365":true,"property_type":["","run_ads","","","",""],"main_image":117437,"main_image_description":"Friday NHL betting picks from Betway","authors":false,"custom_author":"Mark Keast","type":"news","properties":{"ads_enabled":true,"adult_content":false,"important":false,"live":false},"live_url":"","type_of_redirect":"permanent","body":[{"acf_fc_layout":"editor_block","content":"<p>It\u2019s going to be a wild scene at the Bell Centre in Montreal tonight, with the Canadiens in a position to eliminate the Tampa Bay Lightning on home ice.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\">For Canadian NHL fans, the Canadiens, up 3-2 in the series, are the last best hope for this spring\u2019s playoffs, with the Edmonton Oilers going down in six games to the Anaheim Ducks last night.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\">The Canadiens are now +1000 in <a target=\"_blank\" class=\"editor-link\" href=\"https:\/\/betway.com\/g\/en\/sports\/grp\/ice-hockey\/north-america\/nhl\"><u>NHL betting<\/u><\/a> odds to win the Stanley Cup, although it\u2019s more and more looking like a Colorado Avalanche (+225) and Carolina Hurricanes (+260) Cup final.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\">That\u2019s four games in a row in this series that finished 3-2. It\u2019s going to be loud, intense, tight, and physical in Montreal tonight, a reminder of older times in La Belle Province.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\"><strong>BEST BETS<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\"><strong>NHL<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\"><strong>Tampa Bay Lightning at Montreal Canadiens, 7 p.m. EST, Bell Centre, Montreal, QC<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\"><strong>Canadiens lead series 3-2<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\"><strong>Tampa Bay Lightning To Win<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\">At Betway, the Lightning are slight betting favourites, at -115, with the Canadiens at -105. ATS: Lightning -1.5 (+200), Canadiens +1.5 (-275). Over\/Under is 5.5, with the Over -115, the Under -110.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\">Some chatter yesterday about that crappy game-winning goal Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy gave up at the 1:06 mark of the third period Wednesday night in Game 5, an Alexandre Texier snapper from outside the dot that went off the glove of the Russian goalie.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\">That chatter insinuated some holes in Vasilevskiy\u2019s game, but to my eyes he\u2019s still Top 3 in the NHL, once again a finalist for the Vezina Trophy, and I have him bouncing back in a big way tonight (Tampa Bay Shutout +700).<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\">Vasilevskiy\u2019s career playoff record: 68-53, 2.46 GAA, .917 SV%, 7 SOs.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\">I look at the 40 shots Tampa Bay had on Habs goalie Jakub Dobes Wednesday night. I look at the leadership of Brandon Hagel. I look at Nikita Kucherov to have a big game (Total Goals Over 0.5 +135)<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\">I still like the Habs in the series, and Dobes was big the other night, but it\u2019s Tampa\u2019s night. I hit on the Under in Game 5, so I am also leaning that again tonight, with two beasts in the nets.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\"><strong>BEST BETS<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\"><strong>NHL<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\"><strong>Buffalo Sabres at Boston Bruins, 7:30 p.m. EST, TD Garden, Boston MA<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\"><strong>Sabres lead series 3-2<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\"><strong>Boston Bruins ATS<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\">At Betway, the Sabres are slight betting favourites, at -115, with the Bruins at -105. ATS: Sabres -1.5 (+200), Bruins +1.5 (-275). Over\/Under is 5.5, with the Over -115, the Under -105.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\">Home ice has pretty much been a non-factor in this series, so there\u2019s that, with road teams winning four in a row. The Under is 3-1 in the past four games.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\">Alex Lyon has been great in the net for Buffalo since stepping in for Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and has gone 2-1-0 with a 1.18 GAA and a stellar .953 SV% in three starts.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\">Watching the Ducks take out the Oilers, the Utah Mammoth giving the Vegas Golden Knights fits, the Canadiens in the driver\u2019s seat against Tampa, and now this series, it feels a little bit like this is the spring of the young upstart teams, doesn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\">I think the Sabres pull this one out, but I am looking for some insurance in what will be a close game.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\"><strong>BEST BETS<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\"><strong>NBA<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\"><strong>Cleveland Cavaliers at Toronto Raptors, 7:30 p.m. EST, Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, ON<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\"><strong>Cavaliers lead series 3-2<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\"><strong>Cleveland Cavaliers ATS<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\">At Betway, the Cavaliers are betting favourites, at -170, with the home court Raptors at +140. ATS: Cavaliers -3.5 (-115), Raptors +3.5 (-105). Over\/Under is 219.5, with the Over -110, the Under -110.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\">I cashed in on the Raptors ATS in Game 5, which topped out at +9.5 pre-game, the game finishing 125-120 Cavs. That\u2019s not the case tonight, with the Raptors +3.5 in <a target=\"_blank\" class=\"editor-link\" href=\"https:\/\/betway.com\/g\/en\/sports\/grp\/basketball\/usa\/nba\"><u>NBA betting<\/u><\/a> odds.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\">The Raptors are down two key guys \u2013 Brandon Ingram listed as questionable with right heel inflammation, and Immanuel Quickley out with a right hamstring issue. No injuries to report for the Cavaliers.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\">Backing the Cavs spread is the better play, instead of the moneyline, which is much more expensive.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: start;\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n"}]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117810","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=117810"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117810\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":117812,"href":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117810\/revisions\/117812"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/117436"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}