MetroBet dishes out betting info and advice for the two playoff games on tap for Tuesday night.
San Jose Sharks at St. Louis Blues
Moneyline: Sharks +140, Blues -160
Puckline: Sharks +1.5 goals (-210), Blues -1.5 goals (+180)
Betting Total: 5.5 goals (Over EVEN, Under -120)
Time (Eastern), TV: 8 p.m., NBCSN
The St. Louis Blues are in prime position to put away the San Jose Sharks in Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals on Tuesday night at the Enterprise Center. They dismantled their opponent in more ways than one in Sunday afternoon’s Game 5 at the SAP Center, winning 5-0 while seeing several Sharks skaters head to the locker room early.
San Jose’s star defenseman, Erik Karlsson, has apparently re-aggravated a groin injury that’s limited him throughout the season. He was held to 3:03 minutes of ice time in the last two periods of Game 5 after missing some shifts in Game 4. Forwards Tomas Hertl and Joe Pavelski were the victims of some borderline-legal high hits and also made early exits.
Martin Jones has been struggling between the pipes for the Sharks of late, and he put forth one of his worst efforts of the playoffs in Game 5. St. Louis’ top line forwards, Jaden Schwartz and Vladimir Tarasenko, beat him early and often. Schwartz recorded a hat-trick, making him the first player with two three-goal games in one postseason since the Red Wings’ Johan Franzen did it in 2008. San Jose looks spent, so go with the Blues to close it out at home.
The play: Blues puckline
Milwaukee Bucks (-2.5) at Toronto Raptors
Moneyline: Bucks -135, Raptors +115
Betting Total: 216 points
Time (Eastern), TV: 8:30 p.m., TNT
The Toronto Raptors were able to take advantage of the Milwaukee Bucks on an off-night, winning 118-112 in Game 3 in double overtime. Oddsmakers were unperturbed by the result, once again installing Milwaukee as slight road favorites in Game 4.
The Bucks’ best three players, point guard Eric Bledsoe, shooting guard Khris Middleton and power forward (and MVP candidate) Giannis Antetokounmpo, combined for just 32 points on Sunday night, shooting a miserable 23 percent from the field and just 13 percent from beyond the arc.
“[The Raptors] were just playing better than us,” Antetokounmpo told reporters after Game 3. “Whenever we got close, they’d hit some shots and take the lead back to seven or eight. At the end of the day, it wasn’t our best game.”
Kawhi Leonard was the hero once again for Toronto, notching 36 points while playing more than 52 minutes as his teammates fouled out around him. He appeared to be dealing with leg discomfort and addressed it afterwards.
“I mean, it’s 52 minutes and it’s in the playoffs, so you definitely feel it,” he told reporters after Game 3. “Just got to not worry about it, get my treatment and move on to the next one.”
Expect a big bounce-back effort from the Bucks, who looked vastly superior in Games 1 and 2, on Tuesday night, especially if Leonard is at less than 100 percent.
The play: Bucks spread
