Connor Grootenhuis
The Stanley Cup Playoffs are underway, and 3 Game 1’s are on the schedule for Sunday. First, the Hurricanes host the Devils in Raleigh before the Maple Leafs host the Senators in Toronto. The third and final game of the day features the Wild visiting the Golden Knights in Las Vegas. It should be a tremendous day of playoff hockey!
Today’s parlay is below, but be sure to check out all of our NHL picks as well.
Hurricanes -1.5 (+130)
Senators vs Maple Leafs Under 5.5 (-110)
Wild +1.5 (-160)
Parlay odds: (+614)
Hurricanes -1.5 (+130)
Carolina was a solid 29-8-4 at home during the regular season, as most of its woes were on the road away from the Raleigh/Durham Triangle area. Against the New Jersey Devils, Carolina won each of its home matchups in the regular season. In fact, the home team won all four meetings in the regular season, while the favorite also won and covered on the puck line in each of the outings. This is the sixth time these organizations have met in the playoffs since the Carolina franchise relocated from Hartford to start the 1997-98 season. After losing in six games in the 2001 playoffs, Carolina has won each of the previous four series, including a win in five games in 2023. It takes a little courage, but we’ll back the Hurricanes laying a goal and a half in the series opener.
Senators vs Maple Leafs Under 5.5 (-110)
Toronto has tightened up its defensive game this season under head coach Craig Berube. The Maple Leafs allowed 2.79 goals per game during the regular season, which ranked 8th in the NHL. The goaltending tandem of Anthony Stolarz and Joseph Woll has been strong, and Stolarz is expected to get the not between the pipes in Game 1. He led the NHL with a .926 save percentage in the regular season, and ranked third with a 2.14 goals-against average. The Senators closed out the regular season playing 8 of their final 9 games at home. That is noteworthy because Ottawa’s goals per game numbers were much lower on the road (2.54) than at home (3.37) during the regular season. Ottawa plays a physical brand of hockey that resulted in Travis Green’s squad totaling 2,106 hits during the regular season, which was 4th-most in the league. Toronto possesses star power offensively, but Ottawa’s strong defensive effort held the Maple Leafs to just 3 total goals in the 3 regular season matchups between these teams this season. Consider the under.
Wild +1.5 (-160)
Vegas won all 3 regular-season meetings between these teams by a combined 12-4 score, including a 5-1 beatdown in the Twin Cities on March 25 in the most recent meetings. Minnesota has really come alive since that rout, however, and it is 4-2-2 in the past 8 games, with 6 games in that span going to overtime or a shootout. The Wild have been playing playoff-like hockey for the better part of a month now, trying to hold off the St. Louis Blues and Calgary Flames for a playoff spot. This is just the second time these organizations will meet in the postseason, with Vegas winning in 7 games in front of limited fans in 2021. The way Minnesota has kept things close lately, look for the Wild to play this game very tight with a lot of hard hitting and solid defense.
