Stars covering puck line against Golden Knights among best NHL playoff bets for Wednesday’s action

The Boston Bruins stamp their passports to Canada as their first-round series with the Maple Leafs shifts to Toronto tied one game apiece on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, two Western Conference series will play Game 2 with the Vegas Golden Knights and Edmonton Oilers leading the Dallas Stars and Los Angeles Kings, respectively.

Let’s break down some best bets to target for each of these games.

Get the popcorn ready for a vicious Game 3 in front of nearly 20,000 raucous Toronto fans.

The Leafs fought back from trailing twice on Monday and owned the entirety of five-on-five action throughout the game.

Jim Montgomery is pivoting back to Jeremy Swayman in goal for Boston. Swayman delivered a superb Game 1 performance, allowing one goal on 36 shots.

Although the defense in front of him was much cleaner, Ilya Samonov reeled in his game with a resilient Game 2 performance that gave him confidence heading into his home barn on Wednesday night.

Toronto has a knack for never making it look easy. The Leafs have played in a lot of close calls in their recent playoff runs, including five overtime games in the two rounds they played in 2023.

They’re due for their first overtime of this postseason. Besides, with this game merely a pick’em, it’s best to punt on the value here.

» READ MORE: Take the over on points when the Celtics host the Heat in Game 2 of first-round matchup

The Stars were caught off guard by a whirlwind first period in Game 1 that resulted in three goals against.

Dallas dictated five-on-five play throughout the first half of the game, but early costly penalties led to two of those scores.

Vegas is not nearly as strong as the Stars on special teams or at even strength, but the experience of defending a Stanley Cup title makes it a tricky wild-card team to handicap.

The Knights swept Dallas in the three-game season series despite getting outshot in two of those contests. In Game 1, the Knights used their playoff momentum to their advantage, out-hitting the Stars by 24 and demonstrating a relentless forecheck that forced turnovers.

Even so, I think the Stars were the better team. They may have come up empty on their power play, but they were just a day late and a dollar short after dominating the final period, cutting the deficit to one goal and limiting the Stars to only four shots.

This Stars team is too robust to allow another one slip away. Dallas should have learned its lesson with playing responsibly in the early minutes.

Instead of taking the expensive price on Stars money line, I’m shooting for the plus-money value on the puck line with a loud response on home ice expected.

Here’s the safe play of the three games on Wednesday.

Game 1 between Edmonton and Los Angeles was nothing short of a barn burner, and I don’t expect things to magically change in Game 2 with the makeup of this matchup.

The Oilers torched the NHL in expected goals all season, leading the league with a 58.2 percent rate. That’s in part due to Edmonton’s world-class offensive talents in Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Zach Hyman cashing in on the high-danger scoring chances they muster.

It’s also partially a product of the league-leading 33.7 shots on goal per game this group generated.

Los Angeles wasn’t far behind in their rearview mirror as the No. 3 most efficient expected goal scoring team at 54.5 percent.

We should all expect better from Cam Talbot and Stuart Skinner after sloppy Game 1 performances that resulted in save percentages below .900.

Still, neither pose as game-stealers with two quick-transition, top-five high-danger scoring teams clashing that can make you pay off the rush.

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