{"id":561933,"date":"2026-04-28T20:06:23","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T20:06:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/561933\/"},"modified":"2026-04-28T20:06:23","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T20:06:23","slug":"nhl-best-bets-picks-predictions-for-bruins-vs-sabres-stars-vs-wild-oilers-vs-ducks-on-tuesday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/561933\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL best bets, picks: Predictions for Bruins vs. Sabres, Stars vs. Wild, Oilers vs. Ducks on Tuesday"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\tGambling content 21+. The New York Post may receive an affiliate commission if you sign up through our links. Read our editorial standards<\/a> for more information.<\/p>\n

Tuesday is shaping up to be the most dramatic night of the Stanley Cup Playoffs<\/a>. Not only is there a pivotal Game 5 between the Stars and Wild in Dallas, but we\u2019ve also got two elimination contests serving as bookends on the slate.<\/p>\n

The Sabres and Bruins will open the proceedings at 7:30 p.m. ET with Buffalo looking to punch its ticket to Round 2, while the Oilers will try to stay alive in Game 5 against the Ducks at 10 p.m. ET.<\/p>\n

We break down all three games and pick out our best bet for each below:<\/p>\n

NHL best bets for Tuesday<\/p>\n

Bruins (+145) vs. Sabres (-170), O\/U: 6 <\/p>\n

The Bruins have no chance of getting back into this series if Jeremy Swayman isn\u2019t their best player. The American Olympian was superb in the first two games of the series, but he came unglued in Game 4, allowing six goals on just 29 shots.<\/p>\n

That was an outlier compared to the rest of Swayman\u2019s performances in this series, but it\u2019s concerning nonetheless, as goaltending is the only real edge Boston brings to the tale of the tape.<\/p>\n

The silver lining is that the B\u2019s have actually done a decent job at 5-on-5 for most of this series. Game 4 was a dud, but outside of that no-show, Boston has hung in there against a more skilled opponent. There have been times when the B\u2019s have had to weather the storm, but much of that was due to score effects, like when Buffalo was behind in the first two games of the series.<\/p>\n

Boston\u2019s path to victory on Tuesday and beyond is to stick around and let Swayman be the difference-maker. I think we\u2019re getting a strong enough price to bet on that happening in Game 5.<\/p>\n

The play: Bruins moneyline (+145, bet365<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Betting on the NHL? <\/p>\n

Wild (+110) vs. Stars (-130), O\/U: 5.5<\/p>\n

\"HockeyJamie Benn of the Stars and Jacob Middleton of the Wild battle during Game 2. AP<\/p>\n

They don\u2019t come any tighter than this. <\/p>\n

Knotted at 2-2 after four games, the best-of-7 between the Stars and Wild is playing true to form after these two teams were neck and neck for most of the regular season in the battle for second place in the Central Division.<\/p>\n

Oddsmakers projected this series as a pick\u2019em before it started, and the price has barely budged after four games.<\/p>\n

I think that is underselling how impressive Dallas has looked thus far.<\/p>\n

While Game 4 was a bit of a back-and-forth affair, the previous two contests were much more rigid, and I\u2019d expect Tuesday\u2019s tilt to be more of the same. <\/p>\n

Both teams have proven throughout the season, and again in this series, that they can defend at an elite level, and with the stakes being so high, I\u2019d imagine that discipline and staying out of the box will keep this game at 5-on-5 for the most part.<\/p>\n

Throw in two high-ceiling goaltenders, and you\u2019ve got all the right ingredients for a play on the Under 5.5<\/p>\n

\"ConnorConnor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers. Getty Images<\/p>\n

The play: Under 5.5 (+100, BetMGM<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Ducks (+145) vs. Oilers (-170), O\/U: 7<\/p>\n

You don\u2019t see a 7-goal Over\/Under in the NHL very often, and it\u2019s even rarer in the postseason, but the Ducks and Oilers are playing some serious pond hockey in this series<\/a>, and there are no signs of it slowing down.<\/p>\n

Coming into Game 1, it seemed like a defense-optional series would greatly benefit the Oilers, but there have been a couple of unfortunate developments for the two-time defending Western Conference champions. Leon Draisaitl doesn\u2019t look fully recovered from his mid-March injury, and Connor McDavid is also not at 100 percent.<\/p>\n

With McDavid and Draisaitl compromised, the Oilers are in serious trouble. And that\u2019s even before we mention the terrible goaltending that is plaguing Edmonton again this postseason.<\/p>\n

There are more than enough ways you can talk yourself into a play on the Ducks at +145.<\/p>\n

The play: Ducks moneyline (+145, DraftKings<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Why Trust New York Post Betting<\/p>\n

Michael Leboff is a long-suffering Islanders fan, but a long-profiting sports bettor with 10 years of experience in the gambling industry. He loves using game theory to help punters win bracket pools, find long shots, and learn how to beat the market in mainstream and niche sports.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gambling content 21+. The New York Post may receive an affiliate commission if you sign up through our…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":561934,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5117],"tags":[233,183,95,229,196,147,5278,146,5,38,4,351,43,171,352,197],"class_list":{"0":"post-561933","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas-stars","8":"tag-anaheim-ducks","9":"tag-betting","10":"tag-boston-bruins","11":"tag-buffalo-sabres","12":"tag-dallas","13":"tag-dallas-stars","14":"tag-dallasstars","15":"tag-edmonton-oilers","16":"tag-hockey","17":"tag-minnesota-wild","18":"tag-nhl","19":"tag-nhl-betting","20":"tag-sports","21":"tag-sports-betting","22":"tag-sports-picks","23":"tag-stars"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116484138608444141","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/561933","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=561933"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/561933\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/561934"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=561933"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=561933"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=561933"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}