Best NHL Bets: Stanley Cup Playoffs Picks for Tuesday, May 6

Written by

Daniel Dobish

Published on May 6, 2025

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The National Hockey League has a pair of second-round playoff series openers scheduled for Tuesday night. The Carolina Hurricanes and Washington Capitals renew acquaintances at Capital One Arena at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN, and the Edmonton Oilers and Vegas Golden Knights meet at 9:30 p.m. ET, also on ESPN. We'll put together some parlay possibilities to try and build some bankroll for the rest of the playoffs. Let's get started.

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NHL Playoffs: Hurricanes vs Capitals & Oilers vs Golden Knights Picks

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.

Expert NHL Betting Predictions for Hurricanes vs Capitals

The Hurricanes and Capitals meet in the playoffs for the second time in franchise history. Carolina won the first-ever meeting in the first round of the 2019 playoffs in 7 games, including an epic 2OT win by Carolina at Capital One Arena, as Brock McGinn was the hero on that evening for the Canes.

The 2018-19 campaign was coach Rod Brind'Amour's first season behind the bench for Carolina, and all he has done is become the fastest coach to 300 wins in NHL history. With a 5-game series win over the New Jersey Devils, Brind'Amour also made history as the first coach to win an NHL playoff round in each of his first seven seasons behind the bench.

The Hurricanes averaged 3.8 goals per game in the 5-game set with the Devils, while allowing just 2.2 GPG. The Under cashed in the first three games, while the Over hit in the final two games of the series.

Frederik Andersen was sailing along until Game 4, when contact with Timo Meier knocked him out with an upper-body injury. Pyotr Kochetkov took over early in Game 4, and he led the team to a victory in the series clincher in Game 5.

Andersen has been practicing for the past few days, and it appears he is trending toward playing in Game 1. He is 3-1 with a 1.59 GAA and .936 save percentage in the postseason so far. Kochetkov proved he is more than capable if called upon as the starting backstop. However, in his postseason career, Andersen is 41-31 with a 2.42 GAA and .915 SV% with 3 SO, so he is obviously the preferred option for Brind'Amour and the Canes. The organization likes him so much that they signed him to a one-year contract extension in the past week.

In Round 1, Sebastian Aho led the way with five assists and eight points, while scoring three goals, all on the power play. Andrei Svechnikov led the team with five goals, including a hat trick in Game 4 at New Jersey. Seth Jarvis also had two goals and five points, with a goal and three assists coming on the man advantage.

The Capitals were irritated by the Montreal Canadiens, eventually shaking off the pesky Habs in five games. After losing Game 3, Washington won 5-2 in Game 4 and 4-1 in Game 5 to pull away.

Dylan Strome led the Caps with seven assists and nine points, while Anthony Beauvillier, Connor McMichael, Alex Ovechkin and Tom Wilson each had five points. Ovie led the team with four goals, too, with two coming on the power play.

We'll back the Eastern Conference's top seed in Game 1, mainly due to the goaltender uncertainty and the fact that this game is at Capital One Arena. We'll go low on the total, too.

Capitals ML (+105 at Bet365 Sportsbook)
Under 6 Goals (-120 at BetMGM)

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

Edmonton Oilers vs Vegas Golden Knights Match Analysis

The Oilers and Golden Knights meet for the second time in the past three seasons. Vegas topped Edmonton in six games in the second round in 2023 en route to the franchise's first-ever Stanley Cup championship.

These teams split the four-game regular-season series, with the road team going 2-2 this season.

Edmonton was good for a series win in six games against the Los Angeles Kings in Round 1, and the key was Calvin Pickard taking over the reins in the crease from the ineffective Stuart Skinner. Connor McDavid led the way with nine assists and 11 points, while Leon Draisaitl was good for three goals and 10 points, including the game-winning goal in overtime in Game 4 at home. Evan Bouchard was good for four goals, too, pacing the team.

Vegas fell behind 2-1 in the series against Minnesota, including an ugly 5-2 loss in Game 2 on home ice. However, the Golden Knights won three straight games to close out the series, all one-goal victories.

The Golden Knights weren't nearly as prolific as the Oilers on offense, but they still got the job done. Vegas is averaging 3.0 GPG in the series, going for three or more goals in each of the four victories, allowing 2.3 GPG in the four wins, and 5.0 GPG in the two losses. Jack Eichel was good for the team best with four helpers and five points, including a shorthanded assist. Tomas Hertl had three goals and five points. Brett Howden also had three goals to lead the team, too.

While Adin Hill was 4-2 with a subpar 2.83 GAA and .880 save percentage, he is a Stanley Cup winner. Pickard won all four starts against the Kings since taking over for Skinner, but he had a 2.93 GAA and .893 save percentage. We could be in line for another high-scoring game in this series opener. We'll lean on Vegas, too, as Hill is a more dependable option than Pickard.