Expert NHL Betting Picks Today: Tuesday, April 21

Expert NHL best bets, picks and playoff previews for Game 2, plus top parlays for Senators vs Hurricanes, Ducks vs Oilers and more.

Updated on April 21, 2026 5:08PM EST

Expert NHL Betting Picks Today: Tuesday, April 21

By:

Daniel Dobish

Updated on April 21, 2026 5:08PM EST

NHL Picks

NHL Best Bets & Picks: Senators vs Hurricanes, Ducks vs Oilers & More – Expert Game Previews

The Stanley Cup Playoffs roll on Tuesday night, as we get four Game 2 matchups, with two from the Eastern Conference and two from the Western Conference.

The Montreal Canadiens and Tampa Bay Lightning meet at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2, while the Boston Bruins and Buffalo Sabres meet at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN. In the late window, the Utah Mammoth and Vegas Golden Knights battle at 9:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2, while the Los Angeles Kings and Colorado Avalanche wrap up the night at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN.

Man, we were SOOOO close to going 8-for-8 on Monday. We hit seven picks, including our 4-leg best parlay at +905, so that was nice. I celebrated with my friends on the Rusty Blades hockey club in Hillsborough, N.C., after we thrashed the Brewins 11-2. We headed to the ice with the Carolina Hurricanes tied 2-2, and much to our surprise, when our game was done, the Canes' game was still going on. We watched in the locker room on a phone and a Bluetooth speaker pumping out the sound, and celebrated in hockey style.

We'll provide single plays and parlay opportunities you could potentially pair with 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.

Montreal Canadiens at Tampa Bay Lightning

The Canadiens and Lightning played an awfully fun Game 1, with the seesaw battle needing overtime to decide a winner. Eventually, Montreal came up with the OTW, as Juraj Slafkovsky capped off a magical night with the hat trick. He took seven of the team's 19 shots on Andrei Vasilevskiy, so it might behoove the Lightning to watch him a bit more closely.

All three of Slafkovsky's goals came on the power play, while Josh Anderson broke the ice with an even-strength goal and a quality celly late in the first. In fact, two of Tampa's three goals also came on the man advantage, so both sides would do well to play a little more disciplined.

We should get a lower-scoring game on Tuesday night, and while the Lightning should be able to level the series before it shifts to Quebec for Game 3, you can't risk more than nearly two times your potential return on the moneyline. That's OK as part of a multi-leg parlay, but not straight up.

Lightning ML (-184 at FanDuel Sportsbook)*
Under 6 (-115 at Bet365 and BetMGM Sportsbooks)

*Only as part of a multi-leg parlay

Boston Bruins at Buffalo Sabres

The Bruins have to be scratching their heads, wondering how Game 1 got away from them. Boston held a 2-0 lead early in the third period, but that's when Tage Thompson put his team, and the city of Buffalo, on his back. He scored two goals in a 3:42 span from 12:02 to 15:44, leveling things at 2-2. Mattias Samuelsson notched the go-ahead goal just 52 seconds later, and KeyBank Center was in a state of euphoria.

Alex Tuch tucked in an empty-net goal to make it 4-2, but it wasn't 'over' yet. David Pastnak scored a power-play goal at 19:52 for about the filthiest bad beat you'll see, flipping the Under (6.5) to an Over result. Ouch.

The city of Buffalo waited 15 years for that playoff home win, and it was a good one. The Bruins won three of the four regular-season matchups, and I expect the experienced B's to bounce back and get the win. Boston either wins in Game 2 to gain a road split, or it goes home in an 0-2 hole, and it might not make it back to Buffalo for a Game 5. That's how important this one is.

We'll go low on the total, too, as we should have a physical-fest and a lot of high intensity after the initial offering.

Bruins ML (+148 at BetRivers and Caesars Sportsbooks)
Under 6.5 (-135 at DraftKings and Fanatics Sportsbooks)

Don't make any bets on your favorite sports betting apps without first consulting the latest NHL odds.

Utah Mammoth at Vegas Golden Knights

VGK doubled up the Mammoth 4-2 as moderate favorites (-160) in Game 1 behind Carter Hart, who was impressive with 31 saves, outdueling Karel Vejmelka (27 saves on 30 shots).

It didn't start out great for Vegas, as Logan Cooley bagged a goal with just 11 seconds remaining in the first period, as Utah headed to the room up 1-0. The teams exchanged early goals in the second, as Colton Sissons scored for the home side, and Kevin Stenlund restored Utah's lead, with the Mammoth up 2-1 after 40 minutes.

The big guns showed up for VGK in the third, though, as Mark Stone scored on the power play with help from Tomas Hertl and Mitch Marner, while Nic Dowd added the winner at 7:20, and Ivan Barbashev found the empty net to put a bow on the scoring, crushing Under bettors with 99 seconds left. The total pushed at most shops, and you kinda knew it was coming, really. Sissons and Noah Hanifin each finished with two points.

Let's go back to the Mammoth to gain the split here. Utah played a good game; it just played a bad couple of minutes in the third period. If it gets back to what it did in the first 40 minutes, it can grab the split. And, we'll stick with the Under.

Mammoth ML (+140 at Caesars Sportsbook)
Under 6 (-110 at BetMGM and Caesars Sportsbook)

Los Angeles Kings at Colorado Avalanche

In the late game, the Kings scored a late power-play goal in Game 1 with Artemi Panarin to make things interesting, but the Avalanche held on for the 2-1 win.

Scott Wedgewood stopped 24 of 25 shots for his first NHL postseason victory, edging Anton Forsberg, who stood on his head for 30 saves on 32 shots against the Presidents' Trophy-winning Avalanche.

I don't expect this one to be as close, however. L.A. gave it its best shot in Game 1 and came up short. I expect the Avalanche to fire out of the chute and score early, and often, in this home game, putting the Kings in a bad spot as the series shifts to SoCal for the next two. And, we'll get a little bit higher score, too. If you can go Over 5.5, great.

Avalanche -1.5 Goals (-105 at Bet365, BetRivers, Fanatics and FanDuel Sportsbooks)
Over 5.5 (-115 at Bet365, BetMGM, Caesars and Hard Rock Sportsbooks)

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