NHL Monday, April 30

5/1/2018: EDIT - Someone asked me if I could post the image without the drawn-in arrow.  Of course. It's below, the second image (enlarged).

My Sunday Picks: 

Penguins over The Caps: 3 - 1

Scratched: Jets beat Preds: 4 - 3  

Revised pick:  Preds over Jets: 4 - 2

Actual Final Score:

Caps 4; Pens 1

Preds 5; Jets 4 in 2 OT

My reversal on the Jets/Preds game gives me one more correct game winner that I picked; still at zero on predicting final scores.

Each team is tied 1 game apiece in each of the series except for Boston 1; Tampa Bay 0 with their game 2 tonight at 7PM EST.

Sunday night's double OT game between Nashville and Winnipeg was "insanely good hockey." Sporting News:

"...[this series is] high-level, out-of-this-world hockey from two dynamic and loaded teams that simply don’t want to cede one inch to the other."

Contention surfaced in Sunday afternoon's Pens - Washington game when, what appeared to be a Pens goal, was declared not a goal by the officials. ESPN:

...a rebound of Penguins star Sidney Crosby's wraparound attempt was stuffed into the pad of goalie Braden Holtby by Pittsburgh's Patric Hornqvist. The Penguins began celebrating what they believed to be a goal, although the on-ice officials never signaled for one. The NHL Situation Room initiated a video review. Despite footage that showed white ice between the puck and the red line, the NHL "determined that there were no definitive replays" that showed that the puck completely crossed the Washington goal line.

"It's 100 percent a goal," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said[.]

What do you think - is the puck, without question, over the red line?

 And enlarged ...

Had it counted, it would have still left the Pens down by 2 with around ten minutes left in the game.  It looks like a clear goal to me, and I'm not saying that because I'm pulling for the Pens.

Tonight: Game 2, Boston at Tampa.

And the first game #3 in this round of the playoffs at 10PM EST with LVegas at San Jose.

Odds Shark has TBay 3.1; Boston 2.6.

Odds Shark has LV 3.6; Sharks 2.6.

My picks - I'm going with "home ice" teams on both games. TBay does not want to go into game 3 down by two, especially when games 3 & 4 are in Boston.  San Jose is making their first appearance on home ice in this series, and I have to think that has them revved up:

TBay 5;  Boston 4

Sharks 5;  LV 3

( See Disclaimer at the end of this post).