NHL Best Bets 5/06/26 – Playoffs Round Two

Knights forward Ivan Barbashev celebrates after scoring a goal vs. the Blackhawks.

Ivan Barbashev is in the middle of one of the hottest individual playoff runs in Golden Knights history. Tonight, at home, against the same team he just solved two nights ago, nothing in the data suggests it stops being an NHL best bet. Start with the number that makes this prop nearly automatic. Barbashev has recorded a point in seven consecutive playoff games this postseason, totaling three goals and four assists across that span — tied for the second-longest point streak in Vegas Golden Knights playoff history. Seven straight games. That doesn't happen by accident, and it doesn't stop because a book set a line. That's a player locked in, playing his best hockey of the year, on the top line of one of the hottest teams in the bracket.

The most relevant piece of context is the most recent one. Barbashev scored the go-ahead goal with 4:58 remaining in the third period on Monday night — the game-winner in Vegas's 3-1 Game 1 victory — converting a brilliant pass from Pavel Dorofeyev after the Golden Knights forced a turnover in Anaheim's zone. Barbashev led Vegas alongside Jack Eichel in the regular season series against Anaheim, posting three points — one goal and two assists — across the three regular season meetings between these teams. He has consistently found his spots against the Ducks' defense all year, and now with a full playoff series game of film under his belt, his reads and positioning against this specific opponent are only sharper.

Barbashev operates on the Eichel-Barbashev-Dorofeyev top line for Vegas, a trio that has been the most dangerous five-on-five unit on either team in this series. Eichel leads all Golden Knights in playoff points with nine, Dorofeyev has four goals in the postseason, and the chemistry between all three is at its peak. When Eichel distributes and Dorofeyev creates in transition, Barbashev is the net-front finisher who converts — exactly what happened on the game-winner Monday night. That sequence isn't a one-off. It's the design and why this is an NHL best bet.

Barbashev goal for +265 is worth a sprinkle as well.

Ducks forward Cutter Gauthier passes the puck past Oilers defenseman Evan Bouchard.

Cutter Gauthier averaged 3.5 shots on goal per game this season. He had two in Game 1. The over 3.5 tonight is not a stretch — it's a statistical correction waiting to happen against a goaltender who has proven vulnerable throughout these playoffs. And getting this prop at a discounted price after he missed is exactly why it is an NHL best bet tonight.

This is where the prop starts and ends. Gauthier finished the regular season as the Ducks' leader in shots with 285 total — exactly 3.5 per game across 76 appearances, the highest rate of any forward on Anaheim's roster. The book set the over/under at 3.5 on a player whose season average is 3.5. That means tonight's prop is simply asking Gauthier to be exactly himself — not better, not on a heater, just his baseline 2025-26 version. And after a twi-shot Game 1, the regression argument is overwhelming. It's not like he didn't try in Game 1 either, ripping the puck 8 times but missing the net 6 of those.

Gauthier ranked second in the entire NHL in shot attempts per 60 minutes during the regular season, and first in shots on goal per 60 minutes. This isn't a player who shoots a lot by accident. It's the defining characteristic of his game, much like Dylan Guenther who hit his 3.5 line in all but one game against the Vegas Knights in Round 1.

The only downside to this prop is that Guathier has not been great against the Knights in his young career. But Anaheim falls to an 0-2 series deficit tonight if they lose, and their coaching staff will absolutely lean on Gauthier's shot volume as the primary equalizer. This is a young team who should be playing with some desperation tonight. They should take a page from the Mammoth's playbook and set up their sniper over and over again.