Steven Psihogios

The St. Louis Blues and Winnipeg Jets settle their first-round series on Sunday night.

The pregame narrative: Very few people expected St. Louis to push Winnipeg to the brink of elimination. I’m betting on the Jets powering through, however, thanks to a strong performance from Connor Hellebuyck. Additionally, the under on the game total and Jordan Kyrou‘s point prop round out my ticket.

Check out my Blues vs. Jets best bets for Game 7 of the opening round.

Blues vs. Jets best bets

Best Bet: Jets 60-minute moneyline (+120)

Home-ice advantage has earned its moniker in this series.

The home team is an undefeated 6-0 thus far, and I expect that trend to continue in Game 7.

Winnipeg has been excellent at Canada Life Place all year long. It went 30-7-4 in the regular season and has outscored St. Louis, 12-7, there in this series.

The Blues were a mediocre 20-16-5 as a visitor in the regular season and haven’t proven they can win on the road in the playoffs.

Hellebuyck has been better at home in this series. The likely Vezina-Trophy winner has posted a sub-.800 save percentage in all three road games in this series, but has topped that mark in all three home games.

I’m also anticipating Hellebuyck having his strongest game of the series. The American netminder hasn’t been as sharp in the playoffs, but he’s capable of stepping up with an absolutely stellar performance at any moment.

Key stat: Winnipeg has won nine of its last 10 home games against St. Louis in regulation.

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Quick picks

Under 5 goals (+112): I’m expecting Hellebuyck to be at his best in this game, which is a big reason why I’m backing the under.

If Hellebuyck is sharp, then St. Louis won’t contribute much to this total. In the same token, I’m also expecting Jordan Binnington to be stellar.

Binnington has an impressive track record in big contests. He backed the Blues to a Stanley Cup title in 2019, holding the Boston Bruins to one goal in Game 7. He also lifted Canada past the United States of America, 3-2, at the 4 Nations Face-Off.

Mark Scheifele’s injury status also plays heavily into this wager. The Jets centre was electric in this series, notching six points in five contests. Even if he does suit up, he’ll likely be far from fully healthy in this game.

Kyrou to not score 1+ point (-122): I can get behind fading anybody on the Blues with low expectations for their offence.

Kyrou has underwhelmed in this series. He had two points through the first three games but is pointless since. Neither of the winger’s points came at even strength, making him very power-play dependent for production.

St. Louis’ power play has fallen off across the last four games, clicking at a lowly 16.7% rate.

I don’t expect Kyrou to rise to the occasion and will fade him at this price.

Blues vs. Jets best bets made at 2:53 p.m. ET 05/03/2025.

There’ll be plenty of star power on the ice for Game 5 between the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars.

The pregame narrative: Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar are pacing the Avs in shots in this series. Both are solid candidates to top their props at plus-money odds. Thirdly, Artturi Lehkonen is a tremendous value to register a point.

Check out my Avalanche vs. Stars picks for Game 5 of the opening round.

Avalanche vs. Stars picks

Best Bet: MacKinnon over 4.5 shots (+130)

Few players can take over a game like MacKinnon.

The forward’s combination of size, speed and skill makes him one of the most dominating forces in the game.

He’s flexing his offensive prowess against one of the NHL’s stingiest defensive squads in Dallas. MacKinnon leads the Avs in:

• Goals: 4
• Points: 5
• Shots: 24

The latter is truly impressive — MacKinnon led all skaters by five shots entering Sunday’s NHL action.

Dallas is really struggling to contain him and the Avalanche as a whole in this series. Colorado leads the playoffs in shots per game (34.5)

The Stars, as a result, are also ceding the third-most expected goals per 60 in the playoffs per Natural Stat Trick (13.86).

It doesn’t seem like Dallas will be able to contain MacKinnon, and betting him to top his shot prop seems like the right play.

Key stat: MacKinnon has five-plus shots in five of his last eight games.

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Game 5 prop predictions

Makar over 3.5 shots (+125): A lot of the same reasoning that goes into backing MacKinnon applies here.

Makar is another Avalanche star who isn’t struggling to put pucks on goal. He’s second on the Avs with shots, topping this prop in two of four games during this series.

He, like the rest of the team, should continue peppering Jake Oettinger with shots. Dallas, after all, did cede the ninth-most shots per game in the regular season (29.0).

Makar has taken at least nine shot attempts in all four games of this series. He’ll continue to put a steady stream of pucks towards the goal and be a great pick to cash this wager at plus-money odds.

Lehkonen to record a point (-112): Lastly, Lehkonen is a great target in this market.

The Avalanche winger found the score sheet in the first couple of games of this series, but has been pointless since. Despite not scoring any points, his Game 4 effort was highly encouraging.

Lehkonen finished the contest with six shots on goal.

His deployment in Colorado’s lineup is what makes this wager intriguing. Lehkonen skates on the team’s first line and top power-play unit. He skates with MacKinnon on both units, which is prime point-scoring positioning.

Lehkonen had five points in three games against Dallas in the regular season.

Avalanche vs. Stars prop picks made at 3:46 p.m. ET on 04/27/2025.