NHL Best Bets & Picks: Penguins vs Flyers, Stars vs Wild & More – Expert Game Previews

The Stanley Cup Playoffs continue Wednesday night, with two venue shifts and a pair of Game 3 matchups, and a Game 2 meeting in the Western Conference.

The Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers move to Xfinity Mobile Center in Philadelphia for Game 3 at 7 p.m. ET on TNT/truTV/HBO Max, while the Dallas Stars and Minnesota Wild meet in the Twin Cities for Game 3 in the second end of the doubleheader on those networks at 9:30 p.m. ET. At 10 p.m. on TBS and HBO Max, the Anaheim Ducks and Edmonton Oilers play Game 2.

We were a perfect 6-for-6 on the sides and totals for the first three games on Tuesday night, but completely goofed on the pick and total for the Kings-Avalanche Game 2.

We’ll provide single plays and parlay opportunities you could potentially pair with Wednesday’s MLB and NBA basketball action. Good luck with all of your plays! Let’s get started.

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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.

Pittsburgh Penguins at Philadelphia Flyers

The Penguins and Flyers shift their series to the City of Brotherly Love for Game 3, and Pittsburgh is in a world of hurt. The Pens fumbled away home-ice advantage with a 3-2 loss in Game 1, and things got worse with a 3-0 loss at home against Dan Vladar and the Flyers.

Vladar kicked aside 27 shots in the victory, posting his first-ever NHL playoff shutout. Porter Martone scored the first goal and his second of the series, while Garnet Hathaway had an empty-net goal. Luke Glendening put a bow on the scoring with an empty-net goal, too. The bad news for the Penguins is that the top scorers for the Flyers, Travis Konecny (27 goals, 68 points in the regular season) and Trevor Zegras (26 goals, 67 points), have done little so far.

Evgeni Malkin had a goal and an assist in Game 1, the only Pens player with a multi-point performance. Bryan Rust had the other goal. That’s the extent of the offensive production so far. Sidney Crosby has been blanked with a minus-2 rating and seven shots on goal in two games.

Pittsburgh won 5-1 in its most recent visit to Philadelphia on Dec. 1 as slight underdogs (+112) as the Over (5.5) just came in. Let’s go low on the total again, but we’ll stick with the road team trend, as the Pens finally get on the board.

Penguins ML (+100 at Bet365, BetMGM, Caesars and Fanatics Sportsbooks)Under 5.5 (+100 at Bet365, BetMGM, Caesars and Fanatics Sportsbooks)Dallas Stars at Minnesota Wild

After the Stars were stunned in Game 1 by a 6-1 count to open, Dallas leveled the series by doubling up Minnesota 4-2 as moderate favorites (-137) as the total pushed (6) at most shops in Game 2 on Monday.

Wyatt Johnston, who tied with Jason Robertson for the team lead with 45 goals in the regular season, woke up in Game 2. After getting blanked in the series opener, Johnston had two goals, including a power-play goal, while Robertson scored his second goal in as many games. Matt Duchene also struck on the man advantage, as the Stars righted the ship.

For the Wild, Brock Faber had a pair of goals, with Quinn Hughes picking up a pair of apples, but it wasn’t near enough. Jesper Wallstedt allowed three goals on 31 shots, which wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t nearly as dominant as Game 1, either.

As far as the Stars are concerned, Jake Oettinger rebounded with two goals allowed on 30 shots. After splitting the regular-season series 2-2, we’ve solved nothing through two games, other than home-ice advantage shifting to the Wild. The Over is 4-1-1 in the first six meetings between the regular season and postseason. Let’s go high on the total again, and we’ll back the Stars to get the road victory.

Stars ML (+110 at Bet365, BetMGM, BetRivers, Caesars, DraftKings, Fanatics and FanDuel Sportsbooks)Over 5.5 (-130 at DraftKings Sportsbook)

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

Anaheim Ducks at Edmonton Oilers

The Oilers outlasted the Ducks 4-3 in Game 1, the last series in the NHL to get underway. These teams are playing just Game 2, while every other series either has two games in the books or by the time these teams play, two series will have three games completed.

Leon Draisaitl (lower body) returned to the Oilers in a bit of a surprise move after missing the final 14 games due to a lower-body injury, and it appeared he would miss the rest of the season. Jason Dickinson was also able to make his way back, and he made his presence felt, too.

Draisaitl had a pair of assists, while Dickinson had two goals. Kasperi Kapanen also had a pair of lamp lighters, while Vasily Podkolzin, working on a line with Draisaitl and Kapanen, posted two apples. The Oilers won despite Connor McDavid getting blanked in 24:50 with three shots on goal (SOG).

Troy Terry did a good job, going for two goals and three points, while Leo Carlsson had a goal and a helper, with John Carlson adding a power-play assist. Carlsson, the center, had 10 SOG, too, while Beckett Sennecke was scoreless, but he had six SOG, second on the team.

The difference was in the crease, as Lukas Dostal allowed four goals on 34 shots. He has allowed at least three goals in eight of his past nine starts, and he has given up four or more goals in five of the past seven assignments. Connor Ingram is 6-2-1 in the past nine starts since March 26, and he has allowed three or fewer goals in eight of the past nine contests.

While the Oilers should get the job done straight up, you can’t risk nearly two times your potential return. Let’s take the Ducks on the puck line as underdogs, and we’ll go high on the total despite a flat seven at some shops.

Ducks +1.5 Goals (-145 at Caesars and Hard Rock Sportsbooks)Under 7 (-125 at BetMGM Sportsbook)

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Parlay Strategy and Super Parlay Picks for NHL Betting Slates6-Leg NHL Super Parlay (+4485 at DraftKings Sportsbook)Penguins (-105) and Under 5.5 (+102) at Flyers – SGP (+266)Stars ML (+110) and Over 5.5 (-130) at Wild – SGP (+260)Ducks +1.5 (-148) and Under 6.5 (+124) at Oilers – SGP (+248)3-Leg NHL Best Parlay (+498 at DraftKings Sportsbook)Under 5.5 (+102) – Penguins at FlyersOver 5.5 (-130) – Stars at WildDucks +1.5 (-148) at Oilers