Written by Graeme & Scott on Monday, May 4th, 2026
Follow @BetNHL
The Montreal Canadiens showed it was all about quality, not quantity, as they managed to defeat the Tampa Bay Lighting in Game 7 with a whopping 9 shots on target.
The Minnesota Wild and Colorado Avalanche meanwhile decided goaltending was overrated; and went out to have an absolute barn burner of a game, with the Avs running out 9-6 winners.
Jesus christ.
We have Game 2 of the Canes vs Flyers today, and the Ducks vs Knights series starting.
Hurricanes vs Flyers Game 2 Tips:
Scott: The Canes looked strong in game 1. They held the Flyers to only 19 shots and Andersen was able to pick up the shutout.
I didn’t see anything in game 1 that is going to change my opinion. You could tell that the Flyers are a young team compared to the Canes. They are still at home and coming off of a big win. Now that they have had a chance to get to know each other I expect game 2 to be much of the same.
Canes -1.5
Graeme: I’m pretty much with Scott here in that I’m not ready to consider the Flyers yet until they actually show me something. If I were a Canes fan, I’d be feeling pretty good after the first game.
However the Flyers didn’t actually do a bad job by the metrics at stifling the Canes for a bit. They kept their xG down at least.
I’m not a big fan of backing the handicap in spots like this, but I’m not really seeing much else honestly, and not feeling any player props this early. Think I will also go Canes -1.5 and be prepared to reassess for Game 3.
Knights vs Ducks Series Betting Tips:
Scott: They had a big upset in the first round when they took out the Oilers.
They had Carlsson, Terry, Gauthier, Killorn and Granlund all score more than a point per game. They also got help from McTavish, Kreider and Poehling. On defense LaCombe actually lead the team in scoring and he was joined by Carlson for putting up points. Dostal was ok in the first round, he got pulled in a game once, and had a 3.87 GAA and a .874 save percentage. Also having a coach like Joel Quenneville, who has won 3 Stanley Cups, can’t be ignored.
The Knights have plenty of experience and it has helped get them to this point. They got by the Mammoth in 6 games.
Eichel and Marner led the team in the 1st round and Barbashev and Stone were there with them too. Howden and Dorofeyev both had 4 goals. On defense Hanifin and Theodore led them in points from the back end. In goal they went with Hart who had a 2.72 GAA and a .898 save percentage.
Neither of these teams got to the 2nd round thanks to their goaltending so I have to look at how their players performed. The Ducks had a big upset in the first round against the Oilers but can they do that for another round? I think Eichel, Marner and Stone are just too talented to go out against the Ducks.
Knights win in 6.
Graeme: I mean by the metrics you’d want to back the Knights I believe – but I was really underwhelmed by them in the Utah series. I truthfully expected a lot from them there and it was very disappointing how they struggled.
Now they might hit the ground running, but the Ducks deserve a lot of credit for beating the Oilers. They are a very erratic team but their goal production in that series was top-notch, and the Knights have struggled greatly with goaltending.
Just based on the sheer randomness of the Ducks – that’s really the best way to put it – I’m happy to take them as a dog. I’m going with Ducks to win the series at 2.65 odds.
