Expert NHL Betting Picks Today: May 6-7

Expert NHL best bets and picks for Canadiens vs Sabres, Hurricanes vs Flyers and more, plus playoff previews, totals and parlay ideas.

May 6, 2026

By:

Daniel Dobish

May 6, 2026

NHL Picks

NHL Best Bets & Picks: Canadiens vs Sabres, Hurricanes vs Flyers & More – Expert Game Previews

The Stanley Cup Playoffs roll along Wednesday into Thursday, with a total of three games during the span.

On Wednesday night, the Montreal Canadiens and Buffalo Sabres clash in Game 1 at KeyBank Center at 7 p.m. ET on TNT/truTV/HBO Max, while the Anaheim Ducks and Vegas Golden Knights square off in Game 2 at 9:30 p.m. ET on those same channels.

On Thursday, the Carolina Hurricanes and Philadelphia Flyers battle in Game 3 at 8 p.m. ET in the standalone game of the day, also on TNT/truTV/HBO Max.

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

Montreal Canadiens at Buffalo Sabres

The Canadiens and Sabres meet in Game 1 at KeyBank Center, and it's the first time these teams have met in the postseason since the 1998 Eastern Conference Semifinals, when the Sabres pulled off the series sweep. These organizations have met in seven previous series since 1973, with Buffalo winning three of those meetings.

The Canadiens just came off a grueling seven-game series against the Tampa Bay Lightning, with each of the games decided by a single goal. The Under has cashed in the past six games, too, with Montreal scoring 12 total goals, or 2.0 goals per game (GPG) in those outings, with 12 goals allowed, also 2.0 GPG.

For the Sabres, they polished off the Boston Bruins in six games, including a 4-1 win Friday as the Under (5.5) cashed. The Under is 4-1 in the past five games.

Alex Lyon went 3-1-0 with a 1.14 GAA and .955 SV% in four starts and one relief appearance since taking over for the ineffective Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen in Game 2.

Jakub Dobes was very impressive against the Lightning, too, with a 4-3-0 record, 2.03 GAA and .923 SV% in the seven-game series.

These teams met four times in the regular season, with the teams splitting 2-2, including 1-1 in each other's arena. The Under was 3-1 in those games, too.

We'll side with the Canadiens in Game 1, and we'll go Under on the total.

Canadiens ML (+110 at Bet365, Caesars, DraftKings and Fanatics Sportsbooks)
Under 5.5 (+105 Caesars and Fanatics Sportsbooks)

Anaheim Ducks at Vegas Golden Knights

Vegas opened this second-round series with a 3-1 win over Anaheim on Monday night, as Ivan Barbashev took a pass from Pavel Dorofeyev to score a goal with 4:58 remaining in regulation.

In addition, Brett Howden continues to have a miracle postseason, as he has scored in a career-high four straight games. The news was even better for VGK, too, as William Karlsson was back in the lineup. "Cowboy Bill" didn't record any points, while taking a shot on goal with a minor penalty, one hit and seven faceoff wins in 13 attempts (53.8 percent). Mitch Marner had a goal and an assist.

Carter Hart stopped 33 of 34 shots, too, while Lukas Dostal stopped just 19 of 21 shots, and Mikael Granlund accounted for the only goal.

The Golden Knights are difficult to beat on home ice, especially in the postseason, but these Ducks have been resilient in the postseason. Let's take the Ducks on the puck line as underdogs, as long as you can get it at -180 or lower. And, let's go low on the total, again, as long as we can get it at 6.5.

Ducks +1.5 Goals (-170 at FanDuel Sportsbook)
Under 6.5 (-120 at Bet365, BetMGM, BetRivers, Caesars and Fanatics Sportsbooks)

Carolina Hurricanes at Philadelphia Flyers

The Hurricanes have played six postseason games, and Carolina has won six times. It edged Philadelphia 3-2 in overtime in Game 2, as Frederik Andersen bested Dan Vladar yet again.

The Flyers started off well, as Jamie Drysdale had a power-play goal at 4:02 of the first period, while Sean Couturier added a goal 39 seconds later. However, Nikolaj Ehlers eased the minds of the home crowd with a power-play goal at 10:21 of the first period.

That's how things stayed until Seth Jarvis struck for a game-tying goal at 11:21 of the third period, with Ehlers and Jordan Staal chipping in with helpers. Late in OT, Taylor Hall had the winner on a beauty pass from Jackson Blake.

Andersen stopped 34 of 36 shots, improving to 6-0-0 with a 1.02 GAA and .958 SV%, including two shutouts. Vladar stopped 40 shots in the OTL, and he has given up three or fewer goals in all eight of his postseason games, going 4-4-0 with a 1.89 GAA and .929 SV% with two shutouts. He just hasn't gotten nearly as much offensive support as needed.

The Canes have won nine of the past 10 meetings since March 21, 2024, with the Under hitting in four in a row and seven of the past 10. Let's take Carolina to fire out to a 3-0 series lead, and we'll stick with the Under.