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The Pittsburgh Penguins refused to go down meekly in their first-round series against the Philadelphia Flyers, as they avoided being swept with a solid performance in Saturday's 4-2 road victory. They now return home and have a chance to plant a seed of doubt in their opponent's mind.

Pittsburgh attempts to save off elimination a second consecutive time when it hosts Philadelphia on Monday for Game 5 of their matchup in the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs. After losing the first three games of the series, the Penguins jumped out to a 2-0 lead in Game 4 and rebuffed the Flyers' efforts to erase the deficit by answering each Philadelphia goal with one of their own.

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Captain Sidney Crosby and Rickard Rakell each recorded a goal and an assist while Arturs Silovs made 28 saves in his first start of the series as the Penguins kept alive their hopes of winning a playoff series for the first time since their first-round triumph over the Flyers in 2018. Pittsburgh lost to the Washington Capitals in its second-round matchup that year and endured four straight first-round eliminations before failing to qualify for the following three postseasons.

While the Flyers hope to wrap up their Eastern Conference series and set up a second-round showdown with the Carolina Hurricanes, the Utah Mammoth host the Vegas Golden Knights on Monday for Game 4 of the Western Conference matchup. Making their first playoff appearance in just their second season of existence, the Mammoth aim to take a 3-1 lead after having lost the series opener.

Utah built a commanding four-goal lead before the midway point of Game 3 and cruised to a 4-2 victory. Lawson Crouse scored twice while MacKenzie Weegar added a goal and an assist for the Mammoth, who have won four of their last five meetings with the Golden Knights dating back to the regular season and allowed a total of five goals in the victories.

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NHL Best bets for Monday, April 27

Evgeni Malkin, Penguins: Over 0.5 Assists (+110, BetMGM)

Malkin has consistently produced against the Flyers in the postseason during his career, recording 15 goals and 15 assists in 26 games. The 2009 Conn Smythe Trophy winner netted one tally and set up the other in Pittsburgh's 3-2 loss in Game 1 of this series and also provided one of the Penguins' two goals in their Game 3 setback. The 39-year-old Russian right wing appeared in three of Pittsburgh's four regular-season meetings with Philadelphia and notched a pair of assists in two of them. I like Malkin to set up a goal Monday in what could possibly be his final NHL game -- or at least final one with the Penguins, who have yet to offer the pending free agent a new contract.

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Logan Cooley, Mammoth: Anytime goal scorer (+210, BetMGM)

Cooley has reached the 20-goal plateau in each of his first three NHL seasons, and he likes to score against the Golden Knights. The 21-year-old center has eight goals in nine career regular-season contests versus Vegas, including four in Utah's 5-1 home victory on Nov. 24, and converted in each of the first two games of their first-round series. Dating back to the regular season, Cooley has a goal in three of his last five outings, and I see him getting another against the Golden Knights in Game 4.

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MacKenzie Weegar, Mammoth: 1+ points (+150, DraftKings)

After registering five points across 20 games in three postseasons with the Florida Panthers, Weegar already has collected three in the first three contests of his first playoff series with the Mammoth. The 32-year-old defenseman was kept off the scoresheet by Vegas in the opener but produced Utah's first goal in its 3-2 win in Game 2 and opened the scoring in Game 3 before adding an assist in a 4-2 triumph. Weegar also racked up five points in four regular-season meetings with the Golden Knights, and I believe he'll notch a point on Monday.