The home teams aim to level their series at one win apiece as the second round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs resumes on Thursday. The Washington Capitals, top seeds in the Eastern Conference, are set to host the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 2 of their series, while the Vegas Golden Knights will face the visiting Edmonton Oilers in the second match of their Western Conference battle.

Washington, victorious in all three of its home games against the Montreal Canadiens in the first round, relinquished a third-period lead that led to a 2-1 overtime defeat in the series opener to the Hurricanes at Capital One Arena. Defenseman Jaccob Slavin netted the victorious goal at 3:06 of the extra session for the Hurricanes, who have experienced overtime in three of their last four outings.

The Golden Knights stumbled to a 2-2 record at T-Mobile Arena this postseason after a 4-2 defeat on Tuesday. Captain Mark Stone initially gave Vegas a 2-0 edge with two goals within 10 minutes of the game, but the Oilers cut the gap late in the first period and netted three in the third to seize the first win in the series.

Edmonton is on a five-game winning streak after dropping the first two encounters of its first-round series against the Los Angeles Kings, having been behind in each of those five games—entering the third period either trailing or tied in four.

Here are some notable players to consider for prop bets this Thursday:

Best Bets

• Alex Ovechkin, Capitals: Anytime goal scorer (+165, bet365)
  The NHL’s all-time leading goal-scorer in regular season history, Ovechkin did not score in the series opener. He hasn’t gone two consecutive games without a goal since March 11-13, only having done so twice since late January. His next goal will mark the 77th of his playoff career, potentially putting him ahead of the legendary Mario Lemieux for 12th on the all-time playoff list. The 39-year-old superstar netted two in three games against Carolina in the 2024-25 season and scored four goals during their seven-game playoff series in 2019.

• Dylan Strome, Capitals: 1+ assist (+100, FanDuel)
  Strome set a career-high in 2024-25 with 53 assists and made at least one in four of Washington’s five games in the first round against Montreal. The 28-year-old center is tied for sixth in the NHL with seven assists this postseason, having only two assists in his first 13 playoff appearances. He recorded a pair of assists in four matchups against the Hurricanes in 2024-25 and has 11 assists in 22 regular season games against Carolina.

• Connor McDavid, Oilers: Anytime goal scorer (+165, bet365)
  The reigning Conn Smythe Trophy recipient accrued two assists against the Golden Knights in Game 1, his fourth multiple-point game in seven postseason outings. Despite this, he is on a four-game goal drought after scoring five times across seven playoff games, dating back to last year’s Stanley Cup Final. The 2023 Maurice Richard Trophy winner scored five goals in Edmonton’s six-game playoff loss to Vegas in the second round last year and is overdue for another after assisting six in his last four games.

• Leon Draisaitl, Oilers: 2+ points (+122, FanDuel)
  Draisaitl is tied for fourth in the NHL this postseason with 12 points over seven games, achieving his fourth multi-point game in the series opener with one goal and another assist. He has achieved multiple points in 36 of his 81 playoff games and has done so in three of his seven games against the Golden Knights.

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