With the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs winding down, we get a trio of elimination games on Friday night’s schedule. The Canadiens, Sabres and Golden Knights are all on the verge of punching a ticket to the next round, while the Lightning, Bruins and Mammoth all look to keep their seasons live in their respective series.
We’re up to three consecutive slates with at least one hit on a pick, so we’re looking towards tonight’s schedule for the best anytime goal scorer picks on DraftKings Sportsbook. Follow along for betting insights, predictions and best bets for who’ll find the back of the net this evening.
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Best anytime goal scorer props for Friday 5/1/26
Nikita Kucherov anytime goal scorer (+175)
Goals haven’t been the easiest to come by in this Lightning vs. Canadiens series with just five combined goals in four of the five contests. Still, Tampa Bay is now backed into a corner as the team heads to a very hostile Bell Centre in Montreal to stave off elimination tonight. Shockingly (no pun intended), Nikita Kucherov has only one goal in this series and hasn’t found the back of the net since Game 2. That’s particularly surprising given that his 22 shots on goal lead the Lightning roster, plus he just put eight shots on the net last game with nothing to show for it. After averaging roughly 0.58 goals per game (44 total in 76 games) and finishing at a hyper-efficient 19.0% during the regular season, it’s about time the superstar lights the lamp again. With the pressure mounting and a 5.0% shooting percentage bound to normalize, I fully expect him to send one past Jakub Dobes tonight.
Jack Eichel anytime goal scorer (+195)
In a similar vein, Jack Eichel’s prop market makes a lot of sense tonight as well. The Golden Knights are up 3-2 on the Mammoth and have the chance to advance with a win on the road, and it seems Vegas’ offense finally woke up last game. Eichel delivered three points, all of which came on assists, but he’s been strikingly aggressive as a shooter as well over the last two contests. He tallied five and six shots on goal in those outings, bringing his series total to a team-best 18. Much like Kucherov, he has only one goal to show for those efforts and is shooting just 5.6% over the course of the five games so far. While Eichel’s 27 goals in the regular season were his fewest since the 2022-23 campaign and a 10.4% shooting percentage wasn’t great either, some simple math based on his volume and efficiency still suggests another goal in this series is imminent. He hasn’t scored since Game 3. That should change tonight.
