The Nashville Predators play Game 1 of their qualification round series against the Arizona Coyotes Sunday at Rogers Place in Edmonton, AB. The puck will drop at 2 p.m. ET as the first of five NHL games on the day. We analyze the Coyotes-Predators NHL betting odds and lines, with picks and best bets.
Coyotes vs. Predators: Projected starting goalies
Darcy Kuemper vs. Pekka Rinne
The 30-year-old Kuemper enjoyed a breakout 2019-20 season, his third with the Coyotes. He went 16-11-2 across 29 starts with a .928 save percentage and 2.22 goals against average.
Rinne wasn’t his usual self this season with a poor .895 SV% and 3.17 GAA across 35 starts and one relief appearance. He’ll make his 90th career postseason start and enters with a career .914 SV% and 2.49 GAA in the playoffs.
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Coyotes vs. Predators: Odds, picks and betting tips
Odds courtesy of BetMGM; access them at USA TODAY Sports for a full list. Odds last updated Saturday at 9:45 p.m. ET.
Prediction
Predators 4, Coyotes 2
Moneyline (ML)
PREDATORS (-129) is the play to make on the moneyline for the outright victory. They finished sixth in the Western Conference in the regular season by point percentage and will serve as the hosts to the 11th-seeded Coyotes (+110).
Nashville became a much more well-rounded hockey team after head coach John Hynes replaced Peter Laviolette in early January. The Preds went 16-11-1 from Jan. 7 through the end of the regular season. Before Hynes took over, they beat the ‘Yotes 3-2 in late December after dropping the season’s first head-to-head meeting 5-2 in the desert in October.
New to sports betting? A $10 bet on the Predators to win returns a profit of $7.75.
Puck Line/Against the Spread (ATS)
Take the added value, and the safety of a push, by backing the PREDATORS -1 (+135) in hopes of a multi-goal victory. Kuemper will be making his first postseason start since 2013-14 with the Minnesota Wild.
Nashville ranked 10th in the NHL by 5-on-5 Corsi For Percentage (rate of all shot attempts) from Jan. 7 through the end of the regular season. Arizona was just 24th in the league in that span.
Over/Under (O/U)
Following suit of out puck line play, take the OVER 5.5 (+110) as the more profitable side of the line. The two regular-season meetings between these teams played to either side of Sunday’s line.
The Predators struggled to live up to expectations this offseason, but they’re back to full health and will have RW Viktor Arvidsson back on the top line alongside Filip Forsberg and Ryan Johansen. The Coyotes lack the depth of the Preds both up front and on the backend.
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