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The Montreal Canadiens have been grinding out victories throughout the 2026 NHL Playoffs, and next up is the top-seeded Carolina Hurricanes, with Game 1 of their Eastern Conference Final matchup set for Thursday. The Hurricanes swept through the Ottawa Senators and Philadelphia Flyers and will have had 11 days off between games. Both Montreal's series have gone seven games, and it advanced with a 3-2 overtime victory against the Buffalo Sabres on Monday. 

The SportsLine Projection Model, which simulates every NHL game 10,000 times, has locked in its NHL picks and best bets for Thursday's Canadiens at Hurricanes Game 1 clash. The model entered the conference final round of the 2026 NHL playoffs with a +668 return on top-rated money-line NHL picks. Anyone following its NHL betting advice at sportsbooks and on betting apps could have seen strong returns.

These teams have vastly different levels of gas in the tank entering the conference final round, and all eyes will be on how they respond Thursday. There are tons of NHL betting opportunities on Game 1, like spread betting, Over/Under bets, money line bets and even player prop bets. Bettors also can combine picks to make a same-game parlay bet for Thursday's Game 1 matchup.

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NHL Playoffs picks for Thursday, May 21

Canadiens money line

Montreal has been workman-like in knocking off the Lightning and Sabres in seven games and regularly rallying from early deficits. Lane Hutson (14 points) and Nick Suzuki (13) have been the catalysts, and Alex Newhook (7 goals) has come through in the clutch. The Habs won all three meetings in the regular season, outscoring Carolina 15-8. The SportsLine model has a 'B' grade on the Canadiens on the money line, as they win in 51% of the model's simulations as plus-money underdogs.     

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Nick Suzuki 1+ assists

The Montreal captain has nine assists in 14 games and was fifth in the league with 72 in the regular season. Six of those nine playoff assists have come on the power play. The Habs are at their best when Suzuki is making plays, and he had three goals and two assists in the three matchups with Carolina in the regular season. He was plus-7 over those three games. The SportsLine DFS projections have him posting 0.79 assists, easily the best among the players in Game 1.   

Seth Jarvis 3+ shots on goal

The Hurricanes' game plan should be to pepper Habs goaltender Jakub Dobes with shots in Game 1. The rookie struggled in Game 6 before bouncing back with a strong outing in Game 7 against Buffalo, but he and the rest of the team are fatigued. Jarvis has 18 shots in eight playoff games, with 14 coming in the previous round. The DFS model has Jarvis, who had a team-high 224 shots in the regular season, projected at 3.47 in Game 1. More than 3.5 shots for Jarvis is priced at around +150. 

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