Written by Graeme & Scott on Saturday, April 18th, 2026
Follow @BetNHL
No time to rest – the NHL regular season has barely finished, and now we are straight into the playoffs.
It all starts today with three games as the Hurricanes vs Senators, Stars vs Wild and Penguins vs Flyers series take place.
If you are new here – here’s how we do it. For the playoffs we don’t collaborate at all; we give our own individual thoughts. Sometimes these are the same and sometimes they conflict. We just attempt to give our own insights and don’t discuss beforehand.
We provide a series analysis and prediction prior to Game 1, then a bet to match that, then we do individual Game tips from Game 2 onward. For our record, we only count bets that we both share the same bet. Although privately we do track our individual records, and loser takes the winner out for an expensive steak dinner!
Here are our thoughts:
Hurricanes vs Senators Series Betting Tips:
Scott: The Canes are a deep team. They have a handful of guys who can score but not one of them is a league leader. Aho, Ehlers, Svechnikov, Jarvis and Blake. Throw in Hall, Stankovan and Staal for depth. On defense they have a strong offensive group. Gostisbehere, Miller, Nikishin and Walker are their top 4. In goal it’s truly a 1a and 1b group with Bussi and Andersen splitting duties and should one get hurt they have Kochetkov.
The Senators are a tough team to face and could give any team troubles. Stutzle, Tkachuk who’s expected to be ready for the playoffs, Batherson and Cozens can put up points. For depth they have Giroux, Pinto, Amadio and Greig. On defense it’s Sanderson, Chabot, Spence and Zub. Ullmark is the starter but should he need time off they have the veteran James Reimer who, at 38, has plenty of experience.
The Canes are the deeper team but the Sens more physical. In the first round teams haven’t yet been roughed up enough as they will be as the playoffs go on.
Canes in 5 games however will take Hurricanes -1.5 at about 2.15 odds.
Bet the playoffs at:
Ontario: Sports Interaction and TonyBet
Canada: Sports Interaction and TonyBet
USA: BetOnline.
Everyone Else: Bet365 (Americans: We recommend http://www.bovada.lv
Graeme: As Scott focuses on a lot of great insights related to the teams, rather than repeat what he says, I focus on the advanced metrics. Both overall season metrics, and then metrics based on the match-ups between the two.
As is typical for NHL these days, Canes are at the top of many advanced metrics. What’s interesting is seeing the Sens #2 in CA/60 and FA/60, and they even had a better xGA/60. This is setting up to be a very tight series.
In 5 vs 5, despite the first two game results, Sens had some very impressive advanced metrics against the Canes.
I think the Sens are actually one of the worst match-ups the Canes could have, and I think mentally they will be a lot more up for the playoffs. I think it will be a very tight series and could be some real low scoring games.
I’m going with Senators to Win the Series. I think it’ll take 6 or 7. 6-7! 2.45 odds for the Senators to win the series outright.
Bet the playoffs at:
Ontario: Sports Interaction and TonyBet
Canada: Sports Interaction and TonyBet
USA: BetOnline.
Everyone Else: Bet365 (Americans: We recommend http://www.bovada.lv
Stars vs Wild Series Betting Tips:
Scott: Both teams had great seasons as you can tell from the standings.
The Stars are lead by Robertson, Rantanen and Johnston. They also have Hintz, Duchene and Benn for depth. On defense the have Heiskanen, Harley and Lindell with Lybushkin and Myers there for their experience. In goal they have Oettinger who is one of the better goalies in the league.
The Wild have Kaprizov, Boldy, Eriksson-Ek and Zuccarello to do the heavy lifting offensively. For depth they have Hartman, Johansson, Tarasenko and the Foligno brothers. On defense is where they are really good with Hughes, Faber and Spurgeon. For depth its Middleton and Brodin. In goal its been kind of a two headed approach with Gustavsson and Wallstedt and both will give them good enough goaltending to contend each game.
I think that since they brought in Hughes the Wild have been a great team and I like them to win this series in 6. At the odds, best to take WIld outright at 2.00.
Bet the playoffs at:
Ontario: Sports Interaction and TonyBet
Canada: Sports Interaction and TonyBet
USA: BetOnline.
Everyone Else: Bet365 (Americans: We recommend http://www.bovada.lv
Wild relied on goaltending a fair bit during the season. Looking at the key games between the two and ignoring the April 9th game, Stars only win was when they actually scored some high danger goals which backs up their data.
So it’s a case of whether the Wild can neutralize that or not. It’s not a complete blueprint but it’s a great starting point for Minnesota; here is Dallas’ biggest strength. Combat that, and you’re close to getting this in the bag.
Analyzing it all, I think they do have what it takes. I’ll take Wild to win the series and I agree with Scott in that I think they can do it in 6. However also happy to bet them just to win at 2.00.
Bet the playoffs at:
Ontario: Sports Interaction and TonyBet
Canada: Sports Interaction and TonyBet
USA: BetOnline.
Everyone Else: Bet365 (Americans: We recommend http://www.bovada.lv
Penguins vs Flyers Series Betting Tips:
Scott: Battle of Pennsylvania. Going to be a good series.
The Flyers are led by Konecny, Zegras, Dvorak, Tippett and Michkov. They don’t have a league leading scorer but a collection of guys who can get the job done. On defense they are led by Olympian Sanheim whos joined by Drysdale and York. In goal they have Vlader as the starter and he’s backed up by Ersson. They don’t really have any standout players on the roster.
The Penguins, as always, are led by their veterans. Crosby, Malkin, Rust and Mantha will get them their goals but they have Rakell, Novak and Chinakhov for depth. On defense they are led by the reliable Letang they also have Girard, Karlsson and Graves. In goal it’s a 2 headed machine with Skinner and Silovs.
The Flyers just clinched a spot with 2 days left in the season and needed to do so in a shootout. The Penguins are getting older so it’s tough to see them keeping up as the season goes on. But the experience they have should carry them through to the next round.
Penguins win (6 games) and a decent price of 2.25 on Penguins -1.5 for the series.
Bet the playoffs at:
Ontario: Sports Interaction and TonyBet
Canada: Sports Interaction and TonyBet
USA: BetOnline.
Everyone Else: Bet365 (Americans: We recommend http://www.bovada.lv
Graeme: Two teams that I realllllly don’t think we will be seeing past the first two rounds. Although I would definitely get a good giggle out of Skinner winning the cup, after his history with the Oilers.
Advanced metric wise, neither team is even making the top 10 in offensive categories like Corsi and Fenwick. Flyers have a surprisingly high CA/60 and FA/60 that I didn’t expect even though they were top 10 in GA/60. Third best xGA/60 too. However on the flip side, Pens Top 10 xGF/60 and they actually scored in parity with that.
It’s going to make for an interesting series, that’s for sure. I’m surprised Pens are so heavily favoured as it really appears to be 50/50 for me; it’s all about the Pens offense and the Flyers defense.
Problem for the Flyers is the Pens were able to rack up the goals against them in three of the four games and this was all later in the season.
This is where home ice can be a big factor. Pens will be up for it and I don’t think the Flyers will be able to stop their offense. When it goes back to Philly, despite offensive woes Flyers are going to want to push the offense and that will be their downfall.
Penguins in 6 although I could see a gentleman’s sweep. Also happy with Pens -1.5.
Bet the playoffs at:
Ontario: Sports Interaction and TonyBet
Canada: Sports Interaction and TonyBet
USA: BetOnline.
Everyone Else: Bet365 (Americans: We recommend http://www.bovada.lv
