Thursday features the biggest slate of NHL action yet this season with nine games on tape. Some of the exciting matchups include thrilling rivalries like the Montreal Canadiens traveling to Beantown to take on the Boston Bruins while the Penguins face off against the Detroit Red Wings in a rematch of the 2009 Stanley Cup Finals.
We aim to get the good times rolling as we secured a 2-1 record in our bets last night, bringing our season record so far to 6-1 with also a hit on our Pad Stacking Challenge due to Montreal’s Juraj Slafkovský. We hope to stay hot with our picks heading into the weekend.
All betting lines are from Bet365 and are subject to change. Hockey is a difficult sport to predict so please gamble responsibly.
Bet: Kings Sabres Under 6.5 goals (-120)
It’s difficult to predict whether the Sabres will kick off the season with a 0-3 record. Last year, the Kings outperformed them, finishing just one point shy of 100, while the Sabres secured 84 points, largely thanks to the impressive play of their breakout star in goal, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. The Kings were specialists last season with Under bets as they finished with the third-lowest goals against average (2.56) in the league.
Luukkonen helped the Sabres become a strong defensive team as well as he finished with a 2.30 goals against average and a .918 save percentage over his final 37 appearances.
The 25-year-old Finnish netminder will square off against LA’s newest goalie in Darcy Kuemper, who the Kings traded centre Pierre-Luc Dubois for in the offseason. Kuemper played for Capitals team, that was one of the worst defensive units in the league last season and ballooned his numbers to staggering new heights.
He should have a much better season with the Kings and it starts versus Buffalo on Thursday. This moneyline odds are too close for comfort in this game but with the stronger goalie and added motivation to get their first win, the Sabres should earn their first win of the season in a very close low-scoring affair. Last season, we had a solid season riding with the Sabres as they secured a 10-6 record in our Best Bets.
Bet: Utah Hockey Club ML (+135)
According to Action Network, over 84 per cent of the bets on the Utah vs New York game are on the Islanders, which makes sense as they’ve beat the former Arizona Coyotes in seven of their last ten matchups. However, this feels like a bet where we fade the public as the Utah Hockey Club will be riding a ton of momentum coming off their big victory in their home opener.
The Islanders are certainly a step up in difficulty from the Blackhawks but this New York team has made minimal adds since last season while Utah has a handful of difference making players that helped them win their first game.
Dylan Guenther is one of them as he scored a pair of goals in their win over Chicago. When asked about Guenther, his captain Clayton Keller described his shooting ability as the best shot in the league after superstar Auston Matthews, who Keller works out with almost more than anyone.
He is just one of the few young impactful players that Utah has like Barrett Hayton, Logan Cooley and Lawson Crouse. The youth of Utah feels like they will be able to overpower the older Islanders team that was top six in oldest average age at the beginning of last season (29.2).
Bet: Blues -1.5 (+150)
The hype around the San Jose Sharks is the biggest it’s been in years with the team featuring a pair of young high-end prospects in their lineup with Will Smith and 2024 first overall pick Macklin Celebrini. The Sharks built up their top six this season with the addition of the two youngsters while also adding veteran Tyler Toffoli in free agency.
San Jose should be a far more compenant hockey club than they were last season but they still not deep enough to contend with a team like the Blues.
St. Louis is a tough physical team that looked stellar in their come-from-behind win over the Seattle Kraken in their season opener. This team also has young stars like Jordan Kyrou and Robert Thomas that are more adjusted to the NHL level.
There will certainly be growing pains once again with the Sharks very young core of players but they will still be an interesting team this season when it comes to the puck line but in the right matchup.
The Blues down the stretch last season were one of the best teams in the league with a thrilling push for the playoffs that just fell short. They finished with a 22-13-4 record, a top-ten goals against average at 2.79 and a top-12 power play over their final 39 games. San Jose will be a fun team to watch this season but Thursday likely won’t be their night.
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