Expert NHL Betting Picks Today: May 13-14

Expert NHL best bets and picks for Canadiens vs Sabres, Golden Knights vs Ducks and more playoff previews with top value plays and parlays.

May 13, 2026

Expert NHL Betting Picks Today: May 13-14

By:

Daniel Dobish

May 13, 2026

NHL Picks

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

The Stanley Cup Playoffs roll on Wednesday, as the Colorado Avalanche look to close out the Minnesota Wild in Denver in Game 5 of their Western Conference second-round series.

On Thursday, the Montreal Canadiens and Buffalo Sabres return to KeyBank Center in Western New York for a pivotal Game 5, with the series tied 2-2. In the late window on Thursday, the Vegas Golden Knights head to Honda Center for Game 6 looking to secure the Anaheim Ducks to the handshake line.

We'll provide single plays and parlay opportunities you could potentially pair with Wednesday and/or Thursday'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.

Minnesota Wild at Colorado Avalanche

The Wild were pushed to the brink with a 5-2 loss on home ice in Game 4. After a spectacular 5-1 victory at Grand Casino Arena, it looked like we could have a long series. But the Wild followed that win by laying an egg.

Game 4 started off well enough, as Danila Yurov struck on the power play, with helpers to Vladimir Tarasenko and Brock Faber. That's how things stood until Nazem Kadri netted a goal of his own on the man advantage at 6:08 of the second. In the third, Ross Colton and Nico Sturm exchanged goals, and we were still even at 2-2 midway through the period. But Parker Kelly, of all people, struck for what was the game-winning tally at 11:32.

Nathan MacKinnon and Brock Nelson made it 5-2 to put a bow on the scoring, making the final result look like it was more of a lopsided game than it was. The two ENGs in the final 33 seconds sent Under (6.5) bettors looking to punch a hole in the drywall, as Under was the correct side all night long until it wasn't. That's one of the worst bad beats of the entire NHL playoffs so far.

Going into Denver, we'll find out what the Wild are made of. The Avalanche look quite strong and in no danger of letting the supposed Presidents' Trophy curse get to them.

We can't back Colorado straight up, though, as that costs more than two times your potential return. Let's take the Wild to have a little pride, and perhaps we'll get our first one-goal game of this series. Each of the first three games has been decided by three or more goals, including Minnesota's Game 3 victory. The Over is 3-1 in the first four games, too, but I suspect we get a lower-scoring Game 5 with the Wild having their backs against the wall.

Wild +1.5 Goals (-125 at Caesars Sportsbook)
Under 6.5 (-115 at Bet365, Caesars, Fanatics, FanDuel and Hard Rock Sportsbooks)

Montreal Canadiens at Buffalo Sabres

The Canadiens and Sabres have put on the most entertaining (and close) series of the second round, although VGK and Anaheim (next) might have an argument about that. This series shifts back to the raucous KeyBank Center for Game 5, and somebody is going to be staring into the abyss of elimination when the dust settles.

The Sabres switched gears in goal, going back to Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen from Alex Lyon, and the move by Lindy Ruff paid off. While UPL allowed an even-strength goal to Alex Newhook midway through the first, and a power-play goal to Cole Caufield late in the opening period, that was all he allowed for Game 4; he made 28 stops en route to the satisfying revenge win.

On the flip side, Jakub Dobes allowed three goals on just 22 shots, including a crazy bounce on a power-play goal in the second. Tage Thompson of the Sabres appeared to be just dumping the puck in for a change from just over center. The puck ricocheted off the glass in the left corner, unexpectedly heading for the crease, before clipping the right leg of Dobes.

Zach Benson struck for the power-play goal at 4:41 of the third period, with helpers to Josh Doan and Thompson. It was also Benson's 21st birthday, so how huge is that?

Now, we get Game 5 back in Buffalo, and it should be a war. These two young teams have really embraced the physical stuff, too, especially at the end of games. Let's back the Sabres feeding off the home crowd in a hotly-contested game which could go deep into the night. And, let's go low on the total again. A flat six is preferable, but even plus-money at U 5.5 is probably fine.

Sabres ML (-120 at Bet365, BetMGM, Caesars, Fanatics and FanDuel Sportsbooks)
Under 6 (-115 at BetMGM)

Vegas Golden Knights at Anaheim Ducks

The Golden Knights can close out the Ducks at Honda Center in Game 6 on Thursday. Vegas won Game 5 on home ice by the narrowest of margins, posting the 3-2 win in overtime. In fact, the Ducks had two goals, while Pavel Dorofeyev had two goals for VGK, including the winner.

The Ducks had the opening score, as Beckett Sennecke netted a power-play goal, giving him goals in four straight games. He now owns the longest goal-scoring streak by a rookie in franchise history, and his four straight goals tied the most in a series by a player age 20 or younger in the past 16 seasons. Owen Zellweger also scored a late goal to force overtime, the first of his NHL career.

That's the good news for the Ducks. The bad news is that Brayden McNabb of the Golden Knights crushed Ryan Poehling in the middle of the first period, leading to a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct infraction. But that cost the Ducks, as Poehling was unable to return, and he is questionable for Game 6.

Lukas Dostal stopped 29 of the 32 shots he faced, but he couldn't solve Dorofeyev. Carter Hart kicked aside 34 of 36 shots.

The road team has struck for wins twice in this series. The Under is also 3-0 in Vegas, but the Over is 2-0 in Anaheim. I think this series goes seven, though. The Ducks are a fun, young and energetic bunch, and they should rally around the fans at home, perhaps for the final time before a potential Game 7. Let's back Anaheim, but unlike the first two games on "The Pond", let's go low on the total.