Expert NHL Betting Picks Today: May 21-22

Expert NHL betting picks for May 21-22: best bets, game previews and parlay ideas for Canadiens vs Hurricanes and Golden Knights vs Avalanche.

May 21, 2026

Expert NHL Betting Picks Today: May 21-22

By:

Daniel Dobish

May 21, 2026

NHL Picks

NHL Best Bets & Picks: Canadiens vs Hurricanes, Golden Knights vs Avalanche & More – Expert Game Previews

The Stanley Cup Playoffs roll on Thursday night, as the Montreal Canadiens and Carolina Hurricanes kick off the Eastern Conference Finals at Lenovo Center in Raleigh, North Carolina at 8:00 p.m. ET on TNT/truTV/HBO Max.

On Friday, the Vegas Golden Knights and Colorado Avalanche resume their Western Conference Finals with Game 2 from Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado at 8:00 p.m. ET on ESPN.

We'll provide single plays and parlay opportunities you could potentially pair with Thursday/Friday's MLB, NBA and WNBA 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.

Montreal Canadiens at Carolina Hurricanes

The Canadiens have been going the extra mile in these playoffs, literally, to get to this point. Montreal needed seven games in the first round against the Tampa Bay Lightning, as well as the second round against the Buffalo Sabres. In Game 7 against the Sabres, the Canadiens won 3-2 in overtime on Monday night.

Jakub Dobes was back in the crease after getting yanked in the third period of Game 6 in Montreal, an 8-3 blowout loss. It was the worst performance of the postseason by Dobes, but he bounced back beautifully with 37 saves on 39 shots to help Montreal advance.

Dobes is now 8-6-0 with a 2.52 GAA and .910 SV% in 14 starts in the playoffs. After sparkling in the Tampa Bay series, he actually allowed three or more goals in four of the seven starts against Buffalo.

The good news for Dobes is that he has been getting plenty of offensive support, as Lane Hutson leads the way with 14 points, including two goals, while going for a power-play goal and eight assists on the man advantage. Nick Suzuki has four goals and 13 points, as he is right on heels of Hutson for the team lead. Juraj Slafkovsky has four goals, all on the power play, with nine points, and all but one of his points are on the power play, which has been stellar for Montreal all playoffs.

The Hurricanes have not had to deal with extended run in these playoffs. In fact, they've yet to lose, sweeping both the Ottawa Senators and Philadelphia Flyers, outscoring the opposition 24-10. Frederik Andersen is in the conversation for the Conn Smythe Trophy halfway through the postseason, as he is 8-0 with a 1.12 GAA, .950 SV% and a pair of shutouts.

Carolina has been led by journeyman Taylor Hall, who has three goals and 12 points with a pair of assists on the power play. Jackson Blake surprisingly checks in second with four goals and 11 points to rank second, while Logan Stankoven is third with a team-best seven goals and eight total points.

The Hurricanes might not be thrilled to see the Habs on the other bench, however, as Montreal won all three regular-season meetings, outscoring Carolina 15-8. That includes a 3-1 win on March 29 in Raleigh in the most recent meeting, as the Canadiens cashed as moderate underdogs (+142) with the Under (6.5) coming through.

It's perhaps a little crazy since Carolina hasn't lost in these playoffs, but Montreal is a chunk of kryptonite. The team won 4-3 in overtime in Tampa in Game 1 in the first-round series opener, and it wouldn't be surprising to see Montreal to stun the home crowd Thursday night in a slightly higher-scoring game.

Canadiens ML (+175 at Caesars Sportsbook)
Over 5.5 (-120 at Bet365, BetMGM, Caesars, Fanatics and FanDuel Sportsbooks)

Vegas Golden Knights at Colorado Avalanche

On Friday, the Avalanche look to pick up the pieces and level the series before heading to Vegas after dropping Game 1 by a 4-2 count.

The Golden Knights saw Dylan Coghlan, a former Hurricanes player, open the scoring at 12:29 of the second period, while Pavel Dorofeyev notched a power-play goal at 15:02. In the third, Brett Howden had a goal 94 seconds in the final period, as he stayed red-hot. Colorado finally responded with Valeri Nichushkin at 5:53 of the third, while Gabriel Landeskog scored with an extra attacker on the power play to make things interesting.

However, Nic Dowd found the empty net at 19:15, and Under (6.5) bettors had to sweat out the final 45 seconds.

Carter Hart kicked aside 36 of 38 shots for the road win, besting Scott Wedgewood, who made 24 saves. It was a balanced attack for the Golden Knights, as no one player had more than a single point. The unsung hero might have been Tomas Hertl, who had an assist and a plus-1, but more importantly, he was 8-for-10 (80 percent) at the faceoff dot.

It seems a little lazy to back the Avalanche risking nearly two times your potential return, but it's hard to see Colorado going down 0-2 at home. Backing the Avalanche as part of a multi-leg parlay makes the price more palatable. We'll also go low on the total again.