We’re back at it this Tuesday with a bunch of Game 2’s set to go off in the NHL playoffs.
The Avalanche will try and rebound in Winnipeg after allowing seven goals in Game 1, while Washington, Tampa Bay, and Nashville will all try and rebound from Game 1 losses as well.
I’ve highlighted the best bets for today’s slate below and you can always be sure to follow along with our NHL bet tracker for more plays as the playoffs progress.
NHL Bets Today - Top NHL Playoff Picks for April 23rd
Colorado Avalanche Moneyline (-106; FanDuel)
Yes, we all saw it. The absolute self-destruction of Alexander Georgiev. The Russian netminder wasn’t just horrific in game one, he was bad enough that the team recalled Ivan Prosvetov, who was the team’s backup early on in the season.
Regular backup Justus Annunen is ill and can’t play, so Georgiev is slated to start again, but you can bet the team will have a short leash on him if he starts poorly.
So with all this strife in net, why back Colorado? Simple.
Despite allowing seven goals on 23 shots the Avalanche still only lost this game by one and outchanced the Jets the entire game. Bad luck and bad goaltending aren’t things I want to rely on for a team (in this case Winnipeg) to get us a win on a nightly basis so looking for Colorado to rebound in game two makes sense.
It makes sense to look at Colorado from an odds perspective as well. Despite being the more dominant team, Colorado’s odds have fallen for this second tilt as they’re now slight underdogs at some books.
With the better price, I like backing Colorado for a game-two win and the team to rally around their beleaguered netminder.
Igor Shesterkin over 23.5 saves (-110; DraftKings)
Despite the Rangers being huge favorites and the Capitals only registering 21 shots in Game 1, this prop on Shesterkin seems dangerously low.
The Rangers netminder played solid in the opener, stopping 20 of 21 shots faced, and should face a more desperate Capitals squad in Game 2, who will likely be looking to direct a few more shots on net from the get-go in this pivotal game.
Shesterkin ultimately went over this total in seven of his final 10 games of the season and also went over this in all three of his regular season starts against Washington as well.
I also like this prop as we’re getting a good number at -110 on DraftKings vs other sportsbooks where the juice is at -120 or above.
Look for the Rangers to potentially allow a few more outside chances at the beginning of this game and for Shesterkin to have a shot at reaching 25 or more saves tonight as a result.
Sidenote: DraftKings has Shesterkin over 23.5 and Ovechkin over 2.5 shots on net at +176 for a same-game parlay. The last time Ovechkin had zero shots on net, as he did in Game 1, was back in January and the next game he had five. I think given the high correlation, this is a reasonable two-way parlay to use if you like Shesterkin’s save total.
Canucks vs Predators over 5.5 goals (-110; DraftKings)
While I initially had this series pegged as a potential low-scoring affair I think Game 1 showed us that the offenses may be able to dominate in stretches.
The Predators were able to get a lead twice on the Canucks early but a quick couple of goals gave the Canucks back the lead quickly in the third period, which led to a six-goal total. That was consequently the seventh time in the last eight meetings between these two teams that the total has hit 6.0 or greater.
Past trends are no guarantee of future results but the common denominator when these two teams have gotten together is that the offenses typically prevail… eventually.
I also think that the goaltenders in this series are worth fading. Thatcher Demko wasn't great early on and is still making his way back from a late-season injury. Jusse Saros has had his issues with the Canucks (.897 save% for his career) and is coming off one of the worst statistical seasons of his career.
I think this series may drift more towards scoring than initially expected and with the total still at 5.5 -110, getting in an overbet for tonight’s Game 2 makes a lot of sense to me.
Underdog NHL Pick’em for April 23
(3-way; 5.26x multiplier)
- Nathan MacKinnon HIGHER 4.5 shots
- Alex Ovechkin HIGHER 3.5 shots (scorcher)
- Igor Shesterkin HIGHER 23.5 saves
I highlighted the cases for Ovechkin and Shestrkin above and another way to play those two together is on Underdog.
Ovechkin has an enhanced payout at HIGHER for 3.5 shots so I like targeting that prop in our Pick’em lineups as it seems like a boom or bust result for Ovechkin tonight.
MacKinnon had plenty of chances in Game 1 but only managed 4.0 shots on net. Hence, his SOG prop is still available at 4.5 at a decent price, which I like taking advantage of.
