NHL Playoffs Picks for Wednesday, May 18th 2022

The second round of the NHL playoffs got underway on Tuesday night and there are two more series starting on Wednesday night. We have analyzed the markets to share our best bets.

NHL Betting Sites

New York Rangers vs. Carolina Hurricanes

Rangers vs. Hurricanes Preview

The Hurricanes will host the Rangers in game 1 of their second round series.

Carolina are coming off a 7-game series against the Bruins. They won all four home games in the series and we expect them to jump out to a quick start against the Rangers in game 1.

The Hurricanes are priced at -163 on the moneyline, but we’re betting on the puck line.

The Rangers are coming off a 7-game series against the Penguins. After losing three of the first four games against Pittsburgh, the Rangers went on a three-game winning streak to win the series.

NHL Betting Odds

We expect them to start slow in this second round series as well. When looking at the head-to-head results from this season, the Hurricanes went 3-1 against NYR with two wins coming by 2+ goals.

In the H2H series, favorites are on a 5-2 run. Another bet to make in game 1 is on over 5.5 goals.

The over has hit in the Rangers last seven games and Carolina have seen the over hit in six of their last seven games (1 push) following a win. Three of the four H2H games this season also went over.

Best Bets: Hurricanes -1.5 (+155) and Over 5.5 Goals (-116)

Edmonton Oilers vs. Calgary Flames

Oilers vs. Flames Preview

The Oilers and Flames are the only two Canadian teams left in the 2022 NHL playoffs.

Edmonton defeated the Kings in seven games. Connor McDavid was electric throughout the series. He scored 4 goals and added 10 assists to lead the Oilers with 14 points in the opening series.

Calgary also needed seven games to win their round 1 series against the Stars.

The H2H series this season ended up split at 2-2. Edmonton won the first two games and the Flames won the next two H2H match-ups. Three of the four games went over the goal total.

The Flames will have home ice advantage this series and they’re game 1 favorites.

NHL Predictions

Most betting trends point towards the Flames winning game 1 on Wednesday night. The home team is 5-0 in the last five H2H games and the favorite is 4-1 in the last five H2H games.

Calgary’s offense struggled at many points in the opening series, so I would stick to the moneyline in game 1 even though all of the H2H games this season were decided by 2+ goals.

If you’re looking for a great banker bet for parlay bets on Wednesday, we recommend looking at the NHL player props betting markets. Johnny Gaudreau is priced at -250 to have a point in game 1.

Gaudreau led the Flames in points (8) during their first round series and they’ll need him to produce even more against the Oilers if they want to make it to the 2022 Western Conference Finals.

Best Bets: Flames ML (-157) and Gaudreau Over 0.5 Points (-250)