Best NHL Bets: Stanley Cup Playoffs Picks for Monday, April 21

Written by

Daniel Dobish

Published on April 21, 2025

More Home Runs. Fewer Strikeouts.

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The National Hockey League has a total of four playoff games Monday, including two more series openers. We'll preview all four of the games to get you set up with a handful of single or parlay plays to help build that bankroll for the remainder of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

We had the Minnesota Wild +1.5 and Under 5.5 goals last night. Hopefully, you also did not have that Same-Game Parlay (SGP). With 0.1 seconds left, an empty-net goal was awarded to the Vegas Golden Knights, flipping the puck line result AND the total on one meaningless score. Well, really, it was super meaningful, as it changed so many betting results. It was a double bad beat of the worst variety. Anyway, let's get started.

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Best NHL Bets Today: Expert NHL Picks for
Monday, April 21

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.

Montreal Canadiens at Washington Capitals

The Canadiens and the Capitals play Game 1 at Capital One Arena with a 7 p.m. ET puck drop. The game can be viewed or televised on ESPN.

Montreal held off the Columbus Blue Jackets for the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, totaling 91 points. It was just 1-2-1 in the final four games, but defense and goaltending were not an issue. The Habs allowed two or fewer goals in eight of the final 10 games, with the Under unsurprisingly going 6-2-1 in the final nine contests.

Washington made a run at the Presidents' Trophy, finishing with an Eastern Conference-best 111 points, five behind the Winnipeg Jets for the overall lead. And, of course, the Capitals enjoyed the run by Alex Ovechkin, as he took over the NHL's all-time career goal-scoring mark, pushing Wayne Gretzky to second.

These teams met three times in the regular season, with the road team winning each of the past two meetings. Montreal won 3-2 in overtime at Capital One Arena on Jan. 10 as a heavy underdog (+185) as the Under (6) cashed. The total was 1-1-1 in the three meetings, but the Over is 5-2-1 in the past eight in the series since Dec. 31, 2022.

The Canadiens have been without Kirby Dach, which is a problem, as he was a top-six option, serving as the No. 2 center. Alex Newhook has tried to fill the offensive void. The Habs did get a bump when Ivan Demidov was allowed to come over from the KHL to join the team late in the second, and the 19-year-old right winger posted a goal and an assist in his NHL debut April 14. The No. 5 overall pick from the 2024 NHL Entry Draft could give the Habs a surprising high-energy offensive threat that the Caps didn't expect.

We'll side with the Canadiens catching the goal and a half here, and we'll lean Over, based only upon the series trends, but don't get carried away with that.

Canadiens +1.5 (-162 at DraftKings Sportsbook)
Over 5.5 Goals (-132 at FanDuel Sportsbook)

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

St. Louis Blues at Winnipeg Jets

It's Game 2 of the Blues-Jets at Canada Life Centre. Puck drop is 7:30 p.m. ET, and the game can be viewed on ESPN2.

The Jets ultimately topped the Blues in Game 1, winning 5-3, but it was a good game for the first two periods. In fact, St. Louis was up 3-2 until midway through the third period. Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou showed how dangerous the power play is for St. Louis, scoring in the third and second periods, respectively. Mark Scheifele also got the man advantage going for the home side with a marker in the first.

The game featured eight different goal scorers, which is surprising given the matchup of Jordan Binnington vs. Connor Hellebuyck. We also had plenty of the rough stuff late in the game, including misconducts to all 10 players on the ice at 19:41 of the third period, including Scheifele.

We're going to side with the Blues in Game 2, and we'll lean on the Over this time around. Binner knows how to steal a game in the playoffs, and I just don't trust the Jets.

Blues ML (+160 at Bet365 Sportsbook)
Under 5.5 Goals (-137 at BetRivers Sportsbook)

Colorado Avalanche at Dallas Stars

The Avalanche went into American Airlines Center in Game 1 and spanked the Stars 5-1 as moderate favorites (-160). I expected much more of a fight from the Stars, but they carried over the momentum from late in the regular season, and that's not a good thing.

Dallas was 0-5-2 in the final seven games of the regular season, and they looked asleep at times in Game 1. All is certainly not lost, but Dallas needs to play with a sense of urgency early in Game 2, or it could be in some serious trouble.

Colorado has won three straight meetings in this series, outscoring Dallas 15-7 in that span. The Over cashed in the three regular-season meetings, but the Under came in Saturday, thanks in large part to the Stars doing nothing offensively. Jake Oettinger has to be better in net, too. He allowed four goals on just 23 shots, with only one power-play goal. Nathan MacKinnon had that PPG, and he tacked on an empty-net goal, finishing with three points.

Based on the poor play of Dallas lately, we have to back Colorado in Game 2, but we should see a little more offense, getting back to an Over result.

Avalanche ML (-143 at Fanatics Sportsbook)
Over 6 Goals (-120 at Caesars Sportsbook)

Edmonton Oilers at Los Angeles Kings

The Kings and Oilers begin their series at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN2.

Los Angeles held off Edmonton for second place in the Pacific Division and home-ice advantage in this series, as it was unable to reel in the Vegas Golden Knights to get to the top of the division.

L.A. won three of the four meetings, but, most importantly, it's how it won the most recent two meetings. On April 5 at Crypto.com Arena, the Kings won 3-0 as a moderate favorite (-200) as Darcy Kuemper turned aside all 27 shots he faced. To be fair, the Oilers were without Leon Draisaitl, Connor McDavid and Stuart Skinner due to injury, so we can give them a pass.

On April 14 at Rogers Place in Edmonton, the Kings belted the Oilers 5-0 in a hugely important game. Again, there was no Draisaitl, McDavid or Skinner, but that speaks volumes about the rest of the team. If one or both of those offensive weapons are sidelined, who is going to step up? L.A. looks to be much deeper than the defending Western Conference champs at this point.

Quinton Byfield and Kevin Fiala scored on the power play in the rout in Edmonton, as did Adrian Kempe, while Kuemper (16 saves) and David Rittich (5 saves) combined on the shutout. Kuemper left that game due to precautionary reasons. He was 31-11-7 with a 2.02 GAA and .922 save percentage this season, his best season since 2021-22 when he helped the Colorado Avalanche raise Lord Stanley's Cup.

Based on Edmonton's choppy play down the stretch, the potential for injury, and the fact that the Kings dominated the regular-season series, we'll back the home side with its red-hot goaltender. And, we'll go low on the total.