{"id":555980,"date":"2026-04-19T12:09:56","date_gmt":"2026-04-19T12:09:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/555980\/"},"modified":"2026-04-19T12:09:56","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T12:09:56","slug":"2026-nhl-playoffs-picks-odds-best-bets-for-canadiens-lightning-and-more-on-sunday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/555980\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 NHL Playoffs picks: Odds, best bets for Canadiens-Lightning and more on Sunday"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"Article-featuredImageImg\" alt=\"pastrnak.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/pastrnak.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" height=\"433\" width=\"770\"\/><\/p>\n<p>                Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p>The 2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/cbssports.com\/nhl\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">NHL<\/a> Playoffs started with a bang Saturday, and more exciting action is expected Sunday. The games get started early with the Western Conference top seed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportsline.com\/nhl\/game-forecast\/NHL_20260419_LA@COL\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Colorado Avalanche hosting the Los Angeles Kings<\/a> at 3 p.m. ET and wrap up with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportsline.com\/nhl\/game-forecast\/NHL_20260419_UTA@LV\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Utah Mammoth visiting the Vegas Golden Knights<\/a> in another West showdown at 10 p.m. ET. In between are two Eastern Conference battles, with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportsline.com\/nhl\/game-forecast\/NHL_20260419_MON@TB\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Tampa Bay Lightning hosting the Montreal Canadiens<\/a> at 5:45 p.m. ET and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportsline.com\/nhl\/game-forecast\/NHL_20260419_BOS@BUF\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Boston Bruins visiting the Buffalo Sabres<\/a> at 7:30 p.m. ET. \u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Here, we break down the latest NHL odds courtesy of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/betting\/news\/draftkings-promo-code\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">DraftKings Sportsbook<\/a>\u00a0with pick recommendations from the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportsline.com\/nhl\/odds\/?sc=o\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">SportsLine Projection Model<\/a>, which simulates every\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nhl\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">NHL<\/a>\u00a0game 10,000 times. The model enters the final week of the 2025-26 NHL season profitable on top-rated\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportsline.com\/www.cbssports.com\/nhl\/expert-picks\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">NHL picks<\/a>\u00a0this season, including a +550 return on top-rated money-line picks. Bettors have plenty of choices between\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/betting\/news\/parlays\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">parlay betting<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/betting\/news\/point-spread-betting\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">spread betting<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/betting\/news\/over-under-betting\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Over\/Under bets<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/betting\/news\/prop-betting\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">player prop betting<\/a>\u00a0for Sunday&#8217;s four games.<\/p>\n<p>Check out the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/betting\/news\/draftkings-promo-code\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">DraftKings promo code<\/a>\u00a0for a new-user offer before placing any NHL Playoffs bets.<\/p>\n<p>NHL Playoffs picks for Sunday, April 19Canadiens money line (+154)<\/p>\n<p>Montreal has beaten Tampa Bay twice since the final day of last month, pulling off a 4-1 victory in Tampa on March 31 and winning at home 2-1 on April 9. The Canadiens outshot the Bolts 22-18 and had a 7-4 edge in power plays in the last matchup. They didn&#8217;t score with the man advantage, but <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nhl\/players\/3149261\/cole-caufield\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Cole Caufield<\/a> became the first Montreal player to reach 50 goals since 1990 in the game (he finished with 51). The SportsLine model likes the Habs to win as plus-money underdogs, as they do so in 50% of its simulations.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Bet on the NHL Playoffs with the latest <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/betting\/news\/caesars-promo-code\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Caesars Sportsbook promo code<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>David Pastrnak 1+ assists (+100)<\/p>\n<p>The <a class=\"Annotation-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nhl\/teams\/BOS\/boston-bruins\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Bruins<\/a>&#8216; star led the team with 100 points and is averaging 0.92 assists per game this season. He had three points &#8212; a goal and two assists &#8212; in Boston&#8217;s 4-3 overtime victory in Buffalo the last time these teams met. Pastrnak had at least one point in three of the four matchups with the Sabres this season, and while three of those came from goals, he is an assists machine. The SportsLine model <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportsline.com\/nhl\/game-forecast\/NHL_20260419_BOS@BUF\/daily-fantasy-projections\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">has Pastrnak pegged for 0.43 goals and 0.78 assists<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Fans who want to wager on the 2026 NHL Playoffs need to check out the latest <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/betting\/news\/betmgm-promo-code\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">BetMGM promo code<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Mammoth money line (+130)<\/p>\n<p>The model has a &#8216;B&#8217; grade on the Utah money line, as they are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportsline.com\/nhl\/game-forecast\/NHL_20260419_UTA@LV\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">winning in 48% of simulations<\/a> as plus-money underdogs. The Mammoth are covering the +1.5 puck line 71% of the time, but the heavy juice makes the money line the value play. Utah lost three of its final four games but won five in a row before that and won 4-0 in Vegas in the most recent meeting between these teams. The Golden Knights won seven of their final eight, but the model leans toward Utah in the opener. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>NHL bettors can go to our\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/betting\/news\/fanduel-promo-code\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">FanDuel promo code<\/a>\u00a0page to learn more about a great offer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Imagn Images The 2026 NHL Playoffs started with a bang Saturday, and more exciting action is expected Sunday.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":555981,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5129],"tags":[183,95,12526,62794,62795,229,62791,62790,971,144,2178,149,5317,5,145,62792,62793,21,4,17887,37257,62787,62788,62789,61,92,3154,74,39,5316],"class_list":{"0":"post-555980","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-vegas-golden-knights","8":"tag-betting","9":"tag-boston-bruins","10":"tag-bruin","11":"tag-bruins-sabres-odds","12":"tag-bruins-sabres-picks","13":"tag-buffalo-sabres","14":"tag-canadiens-lightning-betting","15":"tag-canadiens-lightning-odds","16":"tag-cole-caufield","17":"tag-colorado-avalanche","18":"tag-david-pastrnak","19":"tag-golden-knights","20":"tag-goldenknights","21":"tag-hockey","22":"tag-los-angeles-kings","23":"tag-mammoth-golden-knights-best-bets","24":"tag-mammoth-golden-knights-picks","25":"tag-montreal-canadiens","26":"tag-nhl","27":"tag-nhl-odds","28":"tag-nhl-picks","29":"tag-nhl-play-in-odds","30":"tag-nhl-playoffs-picks","31":"tag-nhl-playoffs-predictions","32":"tag-nhl-predictions","33":"tag-tampa-bay-lightning","34":"tag-utah-mammoth","35":"tag-vegas","36":"tag-vegas-golden-knights","37":"tag-vegasgoldenknights"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/555980","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=555980"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/555980\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/555981"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=555980"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=555980"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=555980"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}