NHL Best Bets 4/25/23: Expert Betting Picks For Today’s Playoff Games

Get NHL best bets and our expert predictions for today’s NHL playoff slate of games on (4/25/23) Find two best bets for the NHL games featuring the Islanders-Hurricanes and Kings-Oilers.

NHL Best Bets (4/25/23)

Today’s playoff games kick off soon and you can find two of our NHL best bets below.

New York Islanders Vs. Carolina Hurricanes Best Bet

I did an NHL playoff bracket before the start of the postseason where I had the Islanders winning this series in seven games. Needless to say, I’d like to distance myself from that pick. Outside of a 5-1 win in their first home game of the series, the Islanders just haven’t been able to take down the Canes, with two one-goal losses and Sunday’s 5-2 shellacking. And now the series heads back to PNC Arena, where Carolina went 30-10-3 throughout the regular season. 

The cornerstone of New York’s postseason run has been excellent goaltending from Ilya Sorokin, but he hasn’t been himself this series. The All-Star goalie has a .917 SV% throughout the playoffs so far with a 2.96 GAA compared to his .924 SV% and 2.34 GAA in the regular season. Bo Horvat might have broken a six-game streak without a goal last game, but the New York offense will need to do much more against a Carolina defense that allowed just 2.56 goals per game in the regular season. While I was looking at the puck line for the Canes in this game, the team’s ATS record (34-52) and the Islanders’ desperation spot has me liking the moneyline much more.

Best Bet: Hurricanes ML
Author: Anthony Elio

Los Angeles Kings Vs. Edmonton Oilers Best Bet

Outside of the Leafs-Lightning series, the Kings-Oilers series has been one of the more high-scoring combos in the opening round. Both teams are averaging over three goals per game and have been lights out on the PP boasting a combined 11 goals. The Kings PK has been particularly awful this series (45.5%) and that isn’t a huge surprise given the Oilers had the best percentage in the league this season (32.4%). Stuart Skinner is confirmed back in net after he was pulled in Game 4 and Joonas Korpisalo is projected to start. Korpisalo had a 3.01 GAA in the regular season vs. Edmonton while Skinner was a lot more dialed in. Korpisalo has also been a bit lucky based on expected goals against, allowing 3.4 less than expected.

This series has been a flip from the regular season unders we were used to seeing, but overs were fairly high in Edmonton throughout the regular season at 26-12-3. The Kings also saw more overs on the road this season at 23-17-1 compared to 19-22 at home. While there is a chance we see teams buckle down a bit, Edmonton is a team that pushes the pace and opens the game up. It takes the Kings out of their defensive rhythm a bit and leaves gaps defensively. Edmonton is second in xGoals% this season and I expect them to continue the offensive dominance at home. Both the Kings and Oilers rank 2nd and 3rd in high danger shots for this round.

Best Bet: Over 6.5
Author: Jason Guilbault