Today’s top NHL props: Avalanche star Nathan Mackinnon among best bets

The 2026 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs continue Thursday with Game 3 of three first-round series. Two of these competitions could see teams pushed to the brink of elimination.

The Ottawa Senators are one of those clubs that will look to avoid this precarious situation when they host the Carolina Hurricanes at the Canadian Tire Centre. Top-seeded Carolina in the Eastern Conference followed a 2-0 triumph in the series opener with a 3-2 double-overtime victory in Game 2 as Jordan Martinook, who failed to convert a penalty shot in the first extra session, scored at 13:53 of the second overtime to give the Hurricanes a 2-0 series lead.

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Also hoping to get back into their game are the Los Angeles Kings, who host the Presidents’ Trophy winners Colorado Avalanche at Crypto.com Arena. This series was also low-scoring, which is a bit surprising since Colorado led the NHL with 298 goals during the regular season. The Avalanche won the first two games by identical scores of 2-1, with Logan O’Connor scoring the winning goal in the first game less than six minutes into the third period and Nicolas Roy scoring at 7:44 of overtime in the second game.

Thursday’s slate begins when the Buffalo Sabers travel to TD Garden to take on the Boston Bruins. Buffalo drew first blood in the series, rallying from a two-goal deficit with less than eight minutes remaining in the third period to earn a 4-3 victory. But the Sabres’ attempt to come back after being down by four in the second half of Game 3 of the second game failed as the Bruins held on and tied the game with a 4-2 triumph.

Here are some valuable players to consider when prop betting for Thursday’s NHL playoff games.

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NHL Best Bets for Thursday, April 23

David Pastrnak, Bruins: 1+ assists (-122, FanDuel)

Pastrnak led the Bruins in the regular season with 100 points, making him the third player in franchise history (Bobby Orr, Phil Esposito) to reach the century mark in four consecutive campaigns. The 29-year-old Czech right wing is tied for the playoff lead with five points and has two assists in each of the first two games of Boston’s series against Buffalo. I like him to score at least one in Game 3.

Sebastian Aho, Hurricanes: Over 0.5 assists (+115, BetMGM)

Aho tied his career high with a team-leading 53 assists in 2025-26. The 28-year-old Finnish center has scored at least seven goals in six of his first seven playoff series, but has yet to do so in the game against the Senators. Carolina’s line of Taylor Hall, Logan Stankoven and Jackson Blake accounted for three of the team’s five goals in the series, so I expect Aho’s unit to start to step up offensively in Game 3 and think it will put up a total or two.

Nathan MacKinnon, Avalanche: Anytime scorer (+105, FanDuel)

Colorado’s top five scorers during the regular season have been limited to two Los Angeles assists so far. MacKinnon, who won the Maurice Richard Trophy with a career-high 53 goals, has yet to find the net in the series. The Hart Trophy contender has gone three straight games without scoring a goal in the last three playoff series and scored in all but one of seven games in the Avalanche’s first-round loss to the Dallas Stars in last year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs. So I believe he will rediscover his touch on Thursday.

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