Expert NHL Betting Picks Today: May 4-5

Expert NHL best bets and playoff picks for Flyers vs Hurricanes, Ducks vs Knights, and Wild vs Avalanche—game previews, odds and parlays.

May 4, 2026

By:

Daniel Dobish

May 4, 2026

NHL Picks

NHL Best Bets & Picks: Flyers vs Hurricanes, Wild vs Avalanche & More – Expert Game Previews

The Stanley Cup Playoffs continue Monday and Tuesday with a total of three games. On Monday, the Philadelphia Flyers and Carolina Hurricanes battle in Game 2 at Lenovo Center in Raleigh, N.C., at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN. At 9:30 p.m. ET, the Anaheim Ducks and Vegas Golden Knights play Game 1 of their series, also on ESPN.

And, on Tuesday night, the Minnesota Wild and Colorado Avalanche play Game 2 of their series at Ball Arena in Denver at 8 p.m. ET in the standalone game of the evening on ESPN.

We'll provide single plays and parlay opportunities you could potentially pair with Monday and/or Tuesday's MLB and NBA basketball action. Good luck with all of your plays! Let's get started.

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For the latest NHL Odds, including NHL Futures and NHL player props, visit RotoWire's NHL Betting page. For up-to-date NHL player news and NHL Injury Report info, head to RotoWire's NHL Lineups page. You can find more picks at Bookies.com/picks. Here are our NHL Best Bets today, featuring expert NHL picks for an action-packed slate of games.

Philadelphia Flyers at Carolina Hurricanes

The Hurricanes opened the second-round series with a 3-0 victory over the Flyers in the first-ever postseason meeting between these Metropolitan Division rivals.

Frederik Andersen stopped all 19 shots he faced for his second shutout of the postseason in Game 1, improving to 5-0-0 while lowering his ERA to 0.90, and he has a sparkling .961 SV% with a pair of shutouts.

Providing the offense, Logan Stankoven scored just 91 seconds into the game with helpers to Mike Reilly and Jackson Blake. It was Stankoven's fifth goal of the postseason, and he has a goal in each of his five playoff games. Blake scored his second goal of the postseason at 7:30 of the first period, as Taylor Hall and Reilly chipped in with helpers. At 16:16 of the second, Stankoven scored again, his sixth goal in five games, and the Hurricanes were off and running.

Dan Vladar didn't do a bad job, stopping 20 of 23 shots, but he was outplayed by the even hotter Andersen. Vladar is still 4-3-0 with a 1.82 GAA and .928 SV% with two shutouts in seven playoff games.

We'll still stick with the Flyers catching a goal and a half in Game 2, and we'll go low until these teams prove otherwise.

Flyers +1.5 Goals (-120 at BetMGM and BetRivers Sportsbooks)
Under 5.5 (-122 FanDuel Sportsbook)

Anaheim Ducks at Vegas Golden Knights

The Ducks and Golden Knights meet for Game 1 on Monday night at T-Mobile Arena, and Anaheim comes in with a ton of confidence after showing the Edmonton Oilers the door in the first round.

And, the Ducks have confidence they can top VGK, as Anaheim won the final three meetings, all by a 4-3 score, including two OT wins. That includes a 4-3 OTW in Vegas on Nov. 8, 2025, as moderate favorites (+184) as the Over (6.5) cashed.

VGK was very impressive against the Utah Mammoth in the first round, winning in six games. It erased a 2-1 series deficit, winning the final three games, while averaging 5.0 goals per game (GPG). The Over has cashed in four in a row for VGK, while Carter Hart was impressive in the series clincher in Salt Lake City on Thursday, stopping 22 of 23 shots, while Brett Howden stayed hot with the opening goal.

Speaking of Howden, he has four goals and five points with a plus-3 rating, including two shorthanded goals, in the past three games. One of the SHGs came in double overtime in the Game 5 win.

Let's stick with the Golden Knights to win Game 1, and we'll go high on the total.

Golden Knights ML (-165 at Bet365, Caesars, DraftKings, Fanatics and FanDuel Sportsbooks)
Over 6 (-125 at Bet365 Sportsbook)

Minnesota Wild at Colorado Avalanche

The Wild and Avalanche play Game 2 at Ball Arena in Denver at 8 p.m. ET, and what can these teams do for an encore?

In Game 1, it was a wild, wild game. Colorado won 9-6, including five combined goals in each of the periods. It was 5-5 after 40 minutes, but the Avs outscored the Wild 4-1 in the final period. Nazem Kadri's first goal of the postseason at 5:43 of the third period stood up as the game-winning tally. Cale Makar had two goals and three points, Devon Toews had a goal and four points, while Nathan MacKinnon had a goal and three points, and Martin Necas chipped in with three assists.

For the Wild, Quinn Hughes was the offensive hero with a goal and three points, while Minnesota had six different scorers. Jesper Wallstedt coughed up eight goals on 42 shots, and Scott Wedgewood had 30 saves on 36 shots.

Obviously, we'll stick with the Over for Game 2, but let's take Minnesota as underdogs on the puck line, as it looks to bounce back.