Pinnacle Odds: Pittsburgh Penguins +118 at Nashville Predators -130 Total 5.5
by Greg Dempson
Home ice has held serve yet again as the host team has won the previous five games with the puck dropping at 8:00 ET tonight at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. The Predators are 9-1 in their home playoff games this season and Pekka Rinne is also 13-01 in his last 14 home playoff starts.
Penguins goalie Matt Murray is no slouch either with a record of 13-02 in his last 15 home playoff games should these two combatants play game 7 in Pittsburgh.
I queried my data dating back 26 years, (25 Stanley Cups in all, as the 2005 season was cancelled.) The winner of the 1990/1991 cup was the Pittsburgh Penguins and they accomplished that feat in 6 games and then Pittsburgh followed that success with another cup win in the 1991/1992 season talking home the hardware in 4 games. The Penguins have won four Stanley Cups with all four victories coming in their opponents rinks.
Nine of the previous Stanley Cups have been decided in exactly 6 games while 7 went the distance with 5 Cups being decided in 4 games while 4 cups were decided in 5 games. Fifteen different teams have won the previous 25 Stanley Cups with the Penguins and Red Wings each having won the trophy the most in that 26 year sampling, four times apiece.
Stanley Cup Finals Systems
· Play the under in the Stanley Cup finals. This system is only 2-3 to the under this season but a profitable 08-17 = 68% to the under the past five seasons.
· In the second half of the season play against home favorites of -100 to -150 on the money line that average 2.85+ goals per game after allowing 5 or more goals. This system is 39-20 = 66% the past five seasons.
NHL Pick
I’ve played and won with the host team laying 1/2 goal in regulation time the last two games getting plus money back on both occasions.