NHL best bets: How to bet these Stanley Cup playoff series

The Stanley Cup playoffs have arrived. We have four series getting going tonight and four more tomorrow. We'll begin with the eight teams squaring off tonight, a look at the betting odds for each series and for Game 1, and how we'll likely be approaching each from a betting perspective.

WC1 New York Islanders vs. No. 1 Carolina Hurricanes

Odds to win series: Carolina -205 | New York +165

Game 1 odds

• Puckline: Carolina -1.5 (+155), New York +1.5 (-180)
• Moneyline: Carolina -165, New York +140
• Over/under: 5.5 goals (+110)

Carolina and New York have met four times this season, with the Hurricanes taking three wins in a row. On the year, Carolina has been one of the tightest defensive teams in the league, allowing the fewest shots per game and the second-fewest goals per game.

The Islanders sport a solid defense in their own right, and we can certainly understand why this game is set at just 5.5 total goals.

Carolina has not been the same team since losing star winger Andrei Svechnikov to a torn ACL, going 9-9-1 in his absence. Since the Islanders acquired Bo Horvat, the team has gone 17-9-4, slowly climbing their way up the wild card race in the East.

From a value standpoint, we like the Islanders to win the series at +165. We also don't expect to load up too many props in this series as it projects to be tight.

Betting view: Islanders to win series (+165). Focus on unders for playoff props as we expect the defenses and goalies to reign supreme.

WC2 Florida Panthers vs. No. 1 Boston Bruins

Odds to win series: Boston -320 | Florida +250

Game 1 odds

• Puckline: Boston -1.5 (+120), Florida +1.5 (-140)
• Moneyline: Boston -225, Florida +190
• Over/under: 6 goals (-125)

This has the potential to be the highest-scoring and most explosive series of the first round. All four of these teams' matchups in the regular saw goal totals of seven and more, and both sides have had their recent issues with penalties, which should open things up from a shooting and scoring perspective.

As far the series goes, Boston was the NHL's best team this year by quite the margin, setting the NHL record for most points and wins in a regular season. Boston should advance, but there's hardly any betting value to be had in loading them up at this price.

Instead, focus on the overs and some Shots on Goal (SOG) props as we see two of the best offenses go at it.

Betting view: Bet the over, and look for SOG props from power play shot leaders like David Pastrnak and Matthew Tkachuk