Best NHL Playoff Prop Bets for April 26 (Target Alex Ovechkin's Deflated Lines After A Rough Showing in New York)

Hockey fans can rejoice as the league returns to a four-game slate for Friday night. It's the first of three straight days of these slates, as the weekend offers back-to-back quadruple-headers. First, we'll preview an intriguing Friday night slate and three prop bets that have caught my attention.

The night begins with the President's Trophy-winning New York Rangers trying to go up 3-0 on Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals. The Capitals have put in a good effort, but the Rangers' talent manages to wear them down by the end of games.

The first Western Conference game of the night shares the early slate with the Capitals and Rangers. The Vancouver Canucks will try to manage their goaltending situation when they visit the Nashville Predators for Game 3. It's becoming more likely that the Canucks may be without Thatcher Demko for the remainder of this series.

The Winnipeg Jets won't have the luxury of their home-ice advantage when they go into altitude against the Colorado Avalanche. The Avalanche thought they had goaltending issues of their own, but Alexandar Georgiev outdueled Connor Hellebuyck in Game 2 to even the series.

The final game sees Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl attempting to steal back home-ice advantage. The Los Angeles Kings won an overtime heartbreaker over the Edmonton Oilers in Game 2 to split the series before heading home.

NHL Playoffs Prop Bets for April 26

• Alex Ovechkin OVER 2.5 Shots on Goal
• JT Miller OVER 2.5 Shots on Goal
• Adrian Kempe OVER 2.5 Shots on Goal

Alex Ovechkin OVER 2.5 Shots on Goal

Ovechkin was terrible in the first two games of the series at Madison Square Garden. He played 38:49 combined, registering one shot on goal and no points. The legend is aging out against all the elite skaters coming into the league, contributing to a decline. However, we all expect more from the (maybe) future NHL All-Time Goal Scoring Leader.

Ovechkin's poor play in New York even led to head coach Spencer Carberry slightly calling him out in the postgame press conference. Ovechkin won't take kindly to getting called out, so we can expect him to come out with some fire in Game 3. Returning to Capital One Arena will also help, as he will get momentum from the hometown crowd.

You may be scared off by the eye test on him from the first two games, but it's hard not to back a motivated Ovechkin to get three shots in 20 minutes of ice time.

JT Miller OVER 2.5 Shots on Goal

The Canucks' game plan had to be altered when news came out of an injury to Thatcher Demko. The Canucks seemed content to protect the net and wait for their opportunities in Game 1 thanks to the confidence from Demko. However, they saw in Game 2 that the strategy would be an issue with Casey DeSmith in the net.

The Canucks should come out with some more energy in Game 3 to back up their new starter and try to give him some goal support. When looking at Miller's game logs, it doesn't look promising that he will get over three shots in this game. He had none in the first game, then only managed three when the Canucks were chasing the lead for all of Game 2.

However, according to MoneyPuck, Miller missed the net nine shot attempts so far in this playoffs. You can't expect all of them to hit the net, but that's an average of six shot attempts per game over the first two. Miller should be able to hit this number considering the Canucks will likely need more offense with DeSmith in net and he can't keep missing the net this much.

Another thing to monitor is a possible injury to Brock Boeser. He left practice on Thursday after getting a puck in the hand, and his status for Game 3 is unclear. If Boeser misses the game, more offensive burden will fall on Miller.

Adrian Kempe OVER 2.5 Shots on Goal

It was surprising to see Kempe's shot line so low for this game. He had seven shots in the Kings' overtime win on Wednesday, two days after a five-shot performance in Game 1. The Kings' success is attributed to the reunion of Kempe, Anze Kopitar, and Quinton Byfield on the team's first line.

Kempe looks like a brand-new player after a mini-slump to end the season. He struggled through an injury in the later parts of the season but looks healthy in the first two games of the playoffs. It's no surprise, as Kempe had his most success when this line was together earlier in the year.

The Oilers' stars will come out firing to avenge Wednesday's loss, but I expect the Kings' first line to do their best to match them step-for-step.

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

You can follow Nathanial Duffett's daily plays on BetStamp here.