Best player prop bets for Tuesday's NHL slate: Barkov to help even the series

May 16, 2021; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Florida Panthers center Aleksander Barkov (16) looks on from the ice against the Tampa Bay Lightning during the first period in game one of the first round of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs at BB&T Center.

Matthew Lowrimore

NHL

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Matthew has been with Pickswise for a while now, covering a wide variety of sports. His main passions are college football and UFC, and those are the sports he has covered the most. Matthew uses a variety of methods to handicap games, including stats, trends, injuries, and situational factors. His goal is to consistently give out winners and will put in the research to try and achieve this.

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Updated: 12:00 PM ET May 18, 2021

We’ve got a four-game slate for Tuesday’s NHL card, but there’s still plenty of opportunities to find some value. Right now, we’re going to be focusing on player props, bringing you a few of our favorite props. Before you bet these, make sure you also check out our picks on the side and total for every game.

Bryan Rust Over 2.5 Shots on Goal (+102)

The Pittsburgh Penguins are another team that lost their opening game in the playoffs and will be looking for a big bounce back game here. Tonight we are going to be backing a shots on goal prop for Bryan Rust. Rust ended the regular season with the second most shots on goal for this Pittsburgh team. Including the one playoff game, he averaged 2.77 shots on goal per game. He had four shots on goal in game one and has now cashed this prop in seven of the nine games against the New York Islanders this season. He is averaging 3.88 shots on goal per game against the Islanders, so we like him to have at least three shots on goal here.

Be sure to check out our full game preview for New York Islanders vs. Pittsburgh Penguins.

Aleksander Barkov Over 1 Point (+118)

We went to Aleksander Barkov for game one with a shots on goal prop and here we will be looking for him to get points instead. Barkov had three points in the game one loss and knows he needs to be just as productive if the Panthers are going to even up the series. In nine games against the Lightning this year, Barkov now has 11 points. He has had three multi-point games, but has had at least one point in seven of the nine head to head meetings. Knowing Florida cannot afford to drop back to back games in this series, backing Barkov to have at least one point will be our play.

Be sure to check out our full game preview for Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Florida Panthers.

Jonathan Marchessault Over 3 Shots on Goal (-104)

Vegas will be looking rebound tonight after losing game one to the Minnesota Wild in overtime. They basically generated no offense and were shutout on the night. So, even though we like them to smash the Wild tonight, we are instead going to back a shots on goal prop. The player in focus will be Jonathan Marchessault. He ended the regular season with the most shots on goal for Vegas and averaged 3.2 shots on goal per game. Marchessault had four shots on goal in game one and now has cashed this prop in six of the nine meetings with Minnesota. He is averaging 3.66 shots on goal against the Wild, so we like him to have at least three shots on goal tonight.

Be sure to check out our full game preview for Minnesota Wild vs. Vegas Golden Knights.

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