The NHL playoffs open on Monday, April 17th, and as always, it will be an exciting time for fans and bettors alike, particularly those of you reading in the Las Vegas area, with the Golden Knights having clinched the top seed in the Western Conference playoffs. Simply put, the intensity of the games in the playoffs is unrivaled. The focus of bettors in preparing for game, series, and future bets should match that. It’s easy to get a little overzealous at this time of year, and that often leads to bad judgment, and thus wagering errors.
I have found over recent years that if you stick to a set of certain fundamentals, the NHL postseason can be quite rewarding, and hence more fun to bet on. For instance, home ice doesn’t mean nearly as much as the talking heads make it out to be. Also, the intensity ramping up doesn’t equate to more goals. In fact, quite the opposite. Furthermore, teams get motivated by certain factors within individual series, and at the top of that list usually is losing games.
With this in mind, I thought this would be a great time to share a list of 12 betting concepts I’ve uncovered that could guide your NHL playoff betting over the course of the next couple of months. Assuming nothing goes haywire, following these patterns from the last decade-plus of action should lead you down the road to profits, and perhaps more importantly, avoiding obvious mistakes that can kill your bankroll.