May 3, 2026, 7:55 p.m. ET
The Anaheim Ducks and Vegas Golden Knights meet Monday, as they skate into a Western Conference NHL playoff quarterfinal series. The Game 1 opening puck drop at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, will be at 9:30 p.m. ET (ESPN). Let’s analyze NHL odds around the Ducks vs. Golden Knights odds and make our expert NHL picks and predictions.
Reguar-season series: Anaheim 3-0
Anaheim advanced through the first round with a 4-2 series win over the Edmonton Oilers. A Ducks club that averaged 3.23 goals per game in the regular season tallied 4.33 GPG against the Oilers. The triumph over Edmonton marked Anaheim’s first playoff series win since 2017.
The Pacific Division-champion Golden Knights rallied from a 2-1 series deficit to take down the Utah Mammoth 4-2 in the first round. Vegas won Games 4 and 5 in overtime and planted 5 goals in both of those contests and in Game 6.
Watch the NHL on Fubo!Ducks at Golden Knights odds
Provided by FanDuel Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated Sunday at 7:38 p.m. ET.
Moneyline (ML): Ducks +136 (bet $100 to win $136) | Golden Knights -164 (bet $164 to win $100)Puck line (PL)/Against the spread (ATS): Ducks +1.5 (-172) | Golden Knights -1.5 (+140)Over/Under (O/U): 6.5 (O: +100 | U: -122)Ducks at Golden Knights projected goalies
Lukas Dostal (2026 playoffs: 4-2, 3.87 GAA, .874 SV%) vs. Carter Hart (2026 playoffs: 4-2, 2.72 GAA, .898 SV%)
Dostal started all 6 games of the Edmonton series. He was pulled after allowing 3 goals in 10 minutes of an eventual Game 5 road loss. The 25-year-old is appearing in his first postseason, and he went into bracket play on a down note, having clocked an .836 SV% in April.
Hart is in the playoffs for the first time since 2020. He went the route in all 6 games against Utah. During the regular season, the 27-year-old posted a .911 SV% at home.
Ducks at Golden Knights picks and predictionsPrediction
Golden Knights 3, Ducks 2
Vegas has won 7 of the last 9 series meetings at home. Dating back to April 1, in regular-season and playoff games combined, Anaheim has gone just 6-7-1. Over the same time frame, the Knights have gone 10-2-1.
Anaheim has surged of late with a power play that has otherwise been ineffective in 2025-26 (18.6%, 23rd NHL). The Ducks got their power play going late in the regular season, and then they went a robust 8 for 16 in the Edmonton series. But Vegas is a much better penalty-killing team than the Oilers, and the Knights are a rarely penalized squad in the first place.
Five-on-five analytics are bullish on the quality of shots Vegas has been getting since late in the season. Add to that a likely advantage between the pipes, and the Knights figure as a near-two-thirds probability for the home games in this series.
The Ducks lost a Game 1 road opener in the Edmonton series and went 1-2 on the road against the Oilers. And Anaheim went 1-3-0 across its last 4 regular-season contests on road ice.
TAKE THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS (-164) as a value in this series lid-lifter.
No interest; PASS.
The last 5 Anaheim-at-Vegas games have seen the Under go 4-1.
Both late in the regular season and again in the opening round of the playoffs, the Ducks and Knights have logged better expected-than-actual-goals-allowed numbers on defense.
Look for special teams to have a diminished role in this series and for the better overall defensive club, the Knights, to drive the pace and tone.
The UNDER 6.5 (-122) is the leverage side.
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