NHL Wednesday bets: Four props for tonight's playoff action

It's a new day in the NHL with two new series set to drop the puck. Tuesday night was a middling night, but we did end up slightly in the green.

FanDuel recently offered the opportunity to ladder up and down shots on goal props, which is a true game-changer. I plan to get a play together with those props, but as of this writing, there aren't any posted.

I will share that on Twitter when possible, but it's a seriously awesome development for the prop-betting community that is hopefully here to stay.

Let's get to the shots on goal (SOG) and points looks that are available right now for the night in hockey.

Sebastian Aho over 2.5 SOG (-125 DK)

Sometimes I think it's okay to keep it simple and see how a player has done against the team he's playing. I had names circled Tuesday night because of past success and then opted to stay away because of a lack of recent consistency. They all hit.

Sebastian Aho leads the pack in this regard Wednesday night, having covered his SOG in three of four against New York this season, averaging 3.5 SOG in those games.

Aho covered in both home games against New York, where he is Wednesday, and covered in all four home games in Round 1.

A strong home hit-rate paired with good success against the opponent makes me like one of Carolina's most important players to come through.

Jaccob Slavin point (+130 CZR)

My defensemen points props did not pan out Tuesday night, though it should be noted that defensemen on those respective teams were still involved in the scoring, just not our guys.

That is mentioned strictly to show that this position group is consistently involved, and I won't be abandoning the trend because of one down night.

Slavin, a top-line defenseman for Carolina, had a strong Round 1, registering a point in six of seven games, finishing with eight total.

Carolina's scoring punch this postseason and much of their season has been concentrated towards their home ice, so I prefer loading up Slavin or DeAngelo now while they are home.

I should note here that Adam Fox on the Rangers is on a crazy tear. I hope he keeps it rolling with points, but the Rangers did not score much against the Canes this year, and Carolina is tighter to goals at home. I'll stay off Wednesday night.

Mikael Backlund over 2.5 SOG (-110 DK)

For my regular readers, do you remember what spawned the love for Anze Kopitar last series en route to him covering in every game besides the first?

The answer was the Oilers' proclivity for letting centers shoot the puck against them. Since April 1, Edmonton ranked fourth in the NHL in shots allowed to the position. It's what made me target Kopitar off the jump, and we'll be using that same exact logic to load up another Round 1 favorite in Mikael Backlund.

Backlund is a second-line center for Calgary (Elias Lindholm also one to monitor here as top-line center), and has been quite consistent with his shots thus far.

Backlund covered his SOG in five of seven games in the first round, and in the last two games against the Oilers, he has 11 shots on net.

In four meetings this season, Calgary averaged 40.25 shots per game against Edmonton. They've been a volume team, particularly at home, a trend I like to continue.

There should be plenty to go around, and at -110, I think Backlund holds tremendous value.

Evander Kane over 3.5 SOG (+105 DK)

Evander Kane had a solid Round 1, covering his SOG in five of seven and going for five-plus shots in each game he hit.

The volume is there, and there's been something about skating on away ice that has gotten the best of Kane. He covered in all three road games last round and now six straight games.

He's 1-for-2 against Calgary this season, and while the Flames have been tight to shots, Edmonton lets them rip. 

Kane is second on this team in attempts per game in the past five, behind only Connor McDavid. Yes, I'd love to bet McDavid, but his price at -150 has left me figuring out how to best get him involved.

For now, I'm loading up a road warrior operating at a high volume, and we get him at plus-money.

That will be it for now. Best of luck Wednesday night! Let's cash some NHL bets.