This article is part of our NHL Picks series.
NHL Parlay Picks: Expert NHL Bets Tonight (May 10, 2024)
We have two more second-round postseason games on tap in the National Hockey League on Friday night.
The Florida Panthers and the Boston Bruins shift their series to the Bay State for Game 3 at TD Garden. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET, and the game can be viewed on TNT. And the Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks square off in Game 2 at Rogers Arena in their Western Conference best-of-seven series after an epic opener Wednesday. That game gets underway at approximately 10 p.m. ET, also on TNT. Let's get started!
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Best NHL Picks Tonight
Florida Panthers 
at Boston Bruins 
The Panthers and Bruins shift their series from South Florida to Massachusetts for a pair of contests, starting with Game 3 at TD Garden on Friday night.
The Bruins manhandled the Panthers 5-1 in Game 1 at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise on Monday night, but the Cats returned the favor with a 6-1 victory in Game 2, a contest which both sides were rather testy in the third period. That final period included an epic scrap between stars David Pastrnak and Matthew Tkachuk, including the latter delivering punches while the B's sniper was already on the ice. It was very rat-like, let's say, and a move which won't soon be forgotten.
Aleksander Barkov starred for the Panthers, notching two goals and two assists, and Sam Reinhart chipped in with four helpers. It was more than enough to back Sergei Bobrovsky (5-2-0, 2.71 GAA, .893 SV% - 2024 playoffs). The Florida tendy needed to make just 14 saves for the win.
Bob's counterpart, Jeremy Swayman (5-3-0, 1.82 GAA, .942 SV% - 2024 playoffs) was yanked early in the third period in favor of Linus Ullmark after the Alaskan backstop conceded four goals on just 23 shots, easily his poorest showing of the postseason. In fact, Swayman hadn't allowed more than two goals in either of his first seven appearances in these playoffs.
While bench boss Jim Montgomery went away from Sway in Game 2, it's expected he'll be the netminder of choice as the team returns to home ice for Game 3.
In Game 2, we saw a total of 146 combined penalty minutes dished out, as we had several donnybrooks in the third period. In total, 12 players were excused from the game, and the benches were extremely short, looking less like an NHL game, and more like a beer-league contest.
Florida won by five goals in Game 2, tying a playoff franchise record for victory, which the team just set April 29 in the Game 5 clincher against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
It's uncertain which way this pivotal Game 3 will go, but it's a good bet we'll see a lot more offense. The Over has cashed in five straight games for the Panthers, averaging 4.2 goals per game (GPG), while allowing 3.2 GPG. For the B's, after a low-scoring series against the Maple Leafs, which saw the Under go 5-0-1 in the final six games, the total has gone high in Games 1 and 2 here. Until defense and goaltending return, keep banging the Over.
- Over 5.5 (-106 at FanDuel)
Edmonton Oilers 
at Vancouver Canucks 
I am not going to harp on this. I mentioned it in yesterday's column. But I gave out the Oilers ML play in Game 1. They were up 4-1 in the opener, ahead 4-2 after two periods, and I went to bed thinking I cashed my parlay with the Over in Boston-Florida. I woke up, and noticed my Fanatics Sportsbook account was missing money. It turns out Vancouver had an epic comeback.
The Canucks allowed Zach Hyman to get on the board at just 2:11 of the first period with a power-play goal, and it looked like it might be a long night for Arturs Silovs, the third-string goaltender filling in for Thatcher Demko (knee) and Casey DeSmith (lower body). It got worse, as Silovs coughed up for goals through 13:11 of the second period, with Cody Ceci and Mattias Ekholm joining the party, and Hyman striking again even-strength.
Elias Lindholm stopped the bleeding at 17:01 of the second, cutting the lead to 4-2 going to the room after two. That's when the fun started, if you were a Vancouver fan or bettor. J.T. Miller scored at 9:38 of the final period, and Nikita Zadorov and Conor Garland scored 39 seconds apart, at 13:47 and 14:26, to give the Canucks a 5-4 lead. It might as well have been 10-4 at that point, as the Oilers took a gut punch that they could not, or would not, recover from.
Stuart Skinner (4-2-0, 3.01 GAA, .893 SV%, 1 SO - 2024 playoffs) has allowed eight goals across the past two starts, and four or more goals in three of his six playoff games. That's a concern.
How will the Oilers respond after such a shocking turn of events? The Canucks are now 5-0 against the Oilers this season, after outscoring Edmonton 21-7 in four regular-season games. The wise move is to back Vancouver in Game 2, as it will be hard for Edmonton to put Game 1 behind them. In addition, Skinner has been very giving, and whether it's a rusty DeSmith returning, or Silovs getting the nod again, a lot of goals are likely to follow yet again.
- Canucks ML (+110 at ESPN Bet)
- Over 6 (-120 at BetMGM)
The Stanley Cup Playoffs are heating up and the second round has some fascinating series brewing. Hockey fans can cash in on thousands of dollars in bonuses and bonus bets through the best sportsbook promo codes in the industry.
NHL Parlays Tonight
3-Way Parlay (+697 at FanDuel)
- Over 5.5 (-106) - Panthers at Bruins
- Over 6.5 and Canucks ML vs. Oilers - SGP (+310)
2-Way Lotsa Goals Parlay (+296 at FanDuel)
- Over 5.5 (-106) - Panthers at Bruins
- Over 6.5 (+104) - Oilers at Canucks
