Expert NHL Betting Picks Today: Friday, April 24

Expert NHL picks for Friday's playoff slate: Lightning vs. Canadiens, Golden Knights vs. Mammoth and Oilers vs. Ducks. Best bets, totals and parlays inside.

April 24, 2026

Expert NHL Betting Picks Today: Friday, April 24

By:

Daniel Dobish

April 24, 2026

NHL Picks

NHL Best Bets & Picks: Lightning vs Canadiens, Oilers vs Ducks & More – Expert Game Previews

The Stanley Cup Playoffs continue Friday night with three more battles on the ice. All three are Game 3 clashes, and each of the series have a shift in venue.

The Tampa Bay Lightning and Montreal Canadiens continue their contentious Atlantic Division series at 7:00 p.m. ET on TNT/truTV/HBO Max, while the Vegas Golden Knights and Utah Mammoth meet at 9:30 p.m. ET on TBS/HBO Max at the first-ever playoff game at Delta Center in Salt Lake City. The Edmonton Oilers and Anaheim Ducks meet at 10:00 p.m. ET on TNT/truTV/HBO Max.

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

Tampa Bay Lightning at Montreal Canadiens

We've had two games at Benchmark International Arena in Tampa, and the two matchups were unable to be solved in regulation.

The Canadiens opened with a 4-3 win in overtime in Game 1 as moderate underdogs (+150) as the Over (6) cashed on Monday, while the Lightning outlasted the Canadiens 3-2 in overtime Wednesday night as heavy faves (-182) as the Under (5.5) cashed.

In Game 1, Juraj Slafkovsky notched a hat trick, scoring on the power play three times, including 82 seconds into overtime. For the Lightning, Darren Raddysh and Brandon Hagel had power-play goals in Game 1, with Nikita Kucherov and Jake Guentzel notched apples on the man advantage.

In Game 2, Hagel and Kucherov had even-strength goals in regulation, while Lane Hutson had a power-play goal, and Josh Anderson scored his second goal in as many games. J.J. Moser ended it at 12:48 of overtime to get the series level.

Jakub Dobes kicked aside 31 of 34 shots, but he was bested by Andrei Vasilevskiy with 25 saves on 27 shots. This is going to be a long, drawn-out series, which is to be expected with two teams which finished dead-even with 106 points apiece. So far, the series has reflected those standings.

The Canadiens were actually better on the road at 25-9-9 than at home, where they had a 24-15-2 record during the regular season. The Lightning were 24-12-5 on the road, so we likely will see another close game.

Let's back Montreal on the moneyline, but be prepared to sweat it out. Additionally, go low on the total of a flat six if you can find it.

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

Vegas Golden Knights at Utah Mammoth

We have another series knotted at 1-1, as Utah won its first-ever playoff game with a 3-2 road win in Game 2 as slight underdogs (+128) as the Under (5.5) cashed.

Logan Cooley bagged the winner at 14:00 of the third period, with helpers to Kailer Yamamoto and Dylan Guenther, as the latter ended up with a goal and two points. Karel Vejmelka had 19 saves to grab the win, leveling the series. Carter Hart had 26 saves in the loss, as the series now shifts to Salt Lake City for the city's first-ever Stanley Cup playoff game.

Vegas had its first loss in regulation since March 24, as it was 8-0-3 in the previous 11 games before falling to Utah. The Under is 3-1-1 in the past five games for the Golden Knights, and 5-2-1 across the previous eight matchups.

Utah is still just 2-4-0 in the past six games, but it has now secured home-ice advantage from the Golden Knights. The Under is 4-2-1 in the past seven matchups, with the Mammoth scoring three or fewer goals in five of the past six games.

Delta Center is going to be a hive of activity, and the crowd will be buzzing in the Beehive State of Utah. See what I did there? Seriously, though, for the first-ever NHL playoff game, it should be an electric atmosphere. Back Vejmelka and the Mammoth, and go low on the total again.

Mammoth ML (-105 at FanDuel and Hard Rock Sportsbooks)
Under 6 (-120 at Bet365, BetMGM, Caesars and Hard Rock Sportsbook)

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

Edmonton Oilers at Anaheim Ducks

This series shifts to Southern California, and like the others, we have a Game 3 to try and untangle a series tied 1-1.

The Ducks posted a 6-4 victory as moderate underdogs (+152) as the Over (7) cashed. Cutter Gauthier, Alex Killorn and Ryan Poehling had goals on the man advantage, as the Anaheim power play was stellar in Game 2. Gauthier and Poehling added goals in the third period, with Gauthier's unassisted even-strength goal at 15:08 in the third standing up as the winner. Jackson LaCombe finished with three assists as well, while Killorn had a three-point night with the goal and two helpers.

The highlight for Edmonton was Leon Draisaitl scoring at 8:58 of the first period, his first time lighting the lamp since March 15 against Nashville before missing the final 14 games of the regular season due to a lower-body injury. He has a goal and three assists in two games in this series. Draisaitl has an 11-game point streak with seven goals and 21 points in that span since Feb. 26.

The Over has cashed in four of the past five meetings since Jan. 26. In the past 10 meetings, we've had 78 combined goals, or 7.8 goals per game (GPG), since March 30, 2024. The winning team has averaged 5.4 GPG in the past five in the series this season, with the losing side averaging 3.6 GPG.

Let's definitely go Over in Game 3, as Lukas Dostal is not Jean-Sebastian Giguere, and Connor Ingram is not Grant Fuhr. These netminders make a lot of nice saves, but they also give up a lot. We'll side with the Ducks at home, as they apply pressure to the Oilers.