NHL Picks

The Minnesota Wild head back to Las Vegas for a pivotal Game 5 of their Western Conference first-round series against the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena. The Wild had the chance to really put the Golden Knights into a tough spot, leading Game 4 on home ice with a 2-1 series advantage. However, the lead evaporated after Nicolas Roy’s power-play goal leveled things. Tomas Hertl gave Vegas a brief third-period lead, but Jared Spurgeon helped the Wild pull even and force overtime. However, it was Ivan Barbashev scoring late in overtime to level this series heading back to the desert.

Minnesota has given Vegas all it can handle in this series so far, including a pair of decisive 5-2 victories in Games 2 and 3. However, the Golden Knights are 30-10-3 at home in the regular season and playoffs, and this is a tough place to win — let alone win twice in the span of a week. Vegas has won 7 of the past 9 meetings in this series since March 30, 2024. I’m betting the 3-way money line, backing the home team to win in regulation.

Wild vs Golden Knights prediction: Golden Knights 3-way ML (-135) available at time of publishing. Playable to -145.

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The series shifts back to Los Angeles for Game 5 between the Kings and the Edmonton Oilers. There has been no shortage of goals to talk about after 4 games. The Kings went on the road and reminded everyone that they can’t win in those situations. They held third-period leads in both only to end up losing on each occasion. This may feel like a cause for concern, but as the old saying goes, you’re never in trouble until you lose a game at home.

The over opened at 6.5 and should stay at that number as we approach puck drop. The story of this series has been goaltending. We knew that Edmonton’s Stuart Skinner and/or Calvin Pickard would struggle, but not many people had L.A.’s Darcy Kuemper being worse than both. He’s not the only person to blame — his team has done him no favors — but he must elevate his game. We know how dominant Los Angeles is on home ice, so it’s hard to envision this critical showdown being a low-scoring event. We’ll continue to take the over in this series until one team convinces us that it can play defense.

Oilers vs Kings prediction: Over 6.5 (+100) available at time of publishing. Playable at that price.

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The St. Louis Blues and Winnipeg Jets are tied 2 games apiece as the series heads back to Winnipeg for Game 5 on Wednesday night. After a pair of close losses in Games 1 and 2, the Blues came roaring back and picked up convincing victories in Games 3 and 4. St. Louis was right there in the first 2 games, and a few different bounces could have this series looking a lot different. Nevertheless, Jim Montgomery’s squad is playing with a ton of confidence right now, so don’t be surprised if they give the Jets all they can handle yet again in Game 5.

One of the main storylines of this postseason so far are the continued playoff struggles for Winnipeg goaltender Connor Hellebuyck. In his last 4 trips to the playoffs, Hellebuyck has allowed 3 or more goals in 17 of 22 games, and has allowed 4 or more goals in 13 of those contests. He has posted a save percentage .817 so far in this series, and has allowed 15 goals over 4 games. The Blues have been the better team through 4 games, and there is bit of uncertainty as to what we are going to get from Hellebuyck in net. With that in mind, consider a small wager backing the Blues on the road.

Blues vs Jets prediction: Blues ML (+145) available at time of publishing. Playable to +140.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are looking to advance to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs when they host the Ottawa Senators for Game 5 on Tuesday night. The Maple Leafs own a 3-1 series lead, as they won the first 3 games of the series before the Senators picked up a win in Game 4 on Saturday. Now the series returns to Toronto, where head coach Craig Berube’s squad has won 9 straight games going back to the regular season. Oddsmakers are heavily favoring Toronto on home ice, and Berube has his team in solid position to take care of business in this one.

The Maple Leafs outscored the Senators 9-4 in the first 2 games of this series, both of which resulted in home wins. Toronto’s powerplay was firing on all cylinders, going 4-for-7 in those 2 outings. The Maple Leafs are getting production from their top guys so far this postseason, as Auston Matthews, John Tavares, William Nylander and Mitch Marner all have 5+ points through 4 games. Toronto has been plenty comfortable on home ice over the course of the last month, and despite the Game 4 loss it is playing with confidence. Consider backing the Maple Leafs to wrap up this series with a regulation win.

Senators vs Maple Leafs prediction: Toronto 3-way ML (+100) available at time of publishing. Playable to -105.

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The New Jersey Devils head back to the Lenovo Center in Raleigh, N.C. with their backs against the wall facing elimination in Game 5 of their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series. It’s not a great place to be, but the Carolina Hurricanes have struggled to close teams out in recent seasons. In fact, the ‘Canes are just 4-5 in the past 9 playoff games when having the ability to eliminate an opponent. Still, the game result could go either way, but we’ll focus on the total — which is a little more of a sure thing.

The Hurricanes were able to get to Jacob Markstrom for 4 goals last time out, including Andrei Svechnikov recording a hat trick. He had 2 goals against Markstrom and an empty-net tally to cap off the hat-trick. However, the under cashed in the first3 games of this series — including both times at Lenovo Center in Raleigh. We should see plenty of hitting, a lot of back-checking and the neutral zone will look like it is made out of sand rather than ice. This game should have an ultra-slow pace. The only concern with the under is that Frederik Andersen was knocked out of the last game in the second period due to contact with Ondrej Palat. If he doesn’t play, how will Pyotr Kochetkov respond? He came on last game and allowed just 1 goal on 15 shots cold, so that should quell the concerns of under bettors somewhat.

Devils vs Hurricanes prediction: Under 5.5 (-120) available at time of publishing. Playable to -130.

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