NHL Best Bets 4/21/23: Expert Betting Picks For Tonight’s Playoff Games

Get NHL best bets and our expert predictions for tonight’s NHL playoff slate of games on (4/21/23) Find two best bets for the NHL games featuring the Bruins-Panthers, Kings-Oilers, Wild-Stars, and Hurricanes-Islanders.

NHL Best Bets (4/21/23)

There are plenty of great games tonight on the NHL slate and you can find two of our NHL best bets below.

Carolina Hurricanes Vs. New York Islanders Best Bet

The New York Islanders are in a desperation spot, and while many teams would fold at this point, I believe they’ll eke out a win at home. New York had an excellent home record throughout the regular season, going 25-13-3 at UBS Arena this year. New York started to get it together offensively in Game 2 against the Hurricanes, with goals from Brock Nelson, Matthew Barzal, and Kyle Palmieri in the overtime loss. This makes me believe the Islanders offense is getting a bit more comfortable against a stingy Carolina defense, and the top lines will need to fire on all cylinders to get it done tonight. 

And (tell me if you’ve heard this one before), injuries are going to have to start catching up to the Canes. Without Max Pacioretty (three goals in just five games this season) and Andrei Svechnikov (55 points in 64 games) on the ice, I don’t believe the team can sustain offensive success throughout the playoffs. This is especially the case against one of he best defenses in the league (2.65 GAPG) that features Ilya Sorokin in net (.924 SV%, 2.34 GAA) for the New York Islanders. I’m expecting another one-goal game tonight, but I believe the Islanders will emerge victorious in their first home game of the series.

Best Bet: Islanders Moneyline
Author: Anthony Elio

Boston Bruins Vs. Florida Panthers Best Bet

The Boston Bruins are coming off a lopsided loss against Florida and will head to Sunrise to rebound. There isn’t much reason to worry here, the Bruins are still the better team and despite five goals allowed by Linus Ullmark, he has been the best goaltender in the league. Jeremy Swayman is projected to start and both have been unpenetrable throughout the regular season. Alex Lyon has been the story so far, keeping Game 1 closer than it should have been, and in Game 2 he stopped 37 shots.

There isn’t any sort of concern for Boston going on the road, where they were 31-8 this season and 25-16 ATS. Florida has had trouble staying out of the box and was in the bottom third in PK%. They have also struggled on their own PP. The 5v5 play has been an issue for Boston but not something I see being an issue throughout the series. Expect Boston’s depth to show up where we haven’t quite seen it in the first two games.

Best Bet: Bruins 60-Min ML
Author: Jason Guilbault