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NHL Best Bets Today for Opening Night (Can the Golden Knights Win on Banner-Raising Night?)

BetSided's Iain MacMillan shares his favorite bets in the NHL for Tuesday, Oct. 10.

By Iain MacMillan

Apr 13, 2023; Seattle, Washington, USA; Las Vegas Knights forward Pavel Dorofeyev (16) skates with
Apr 13, 2023; Seattle, Washington, USA; Las Vegas Knights forward Pavel Dorofeyev (16) skates with / Stephen Brashear-USA TODAY Sports
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The NHL is back!

Tuesday, Oct. 10, marks the first day of the 2023-24 regular season in the National Hockey League. We're not going to waste any time and jump right back into betting on the sport.

There are three games across the league today and I have a bet placed for each of them. If you want to join in on the action, I'd recommend doing so at DraftKings Sportsbook. For a limited time, new users will receive $200 in bonus bets when they place their first $5 wager! Just click the link below to sign up to take advantage of this offer.

NHL Picks for Tuesday, Oct. 10

  • Predators +135 vs. Lightning
  • Blackhawks/Penguins OVER 6.5 (-120)
  • Kraken +140 vs. Golden Knights

Predators +135 vs. Lightning

I think the Lightning are going to take a significant step back this season and in no way do they deserve to be this big of a favorite on Opening Night, even if the team their playing against isn't expected to be a top contender.

You don't want to put too much stock in the preseason, but it was an ugly one for the Lightning. They were dead last amongst all NHL teams in expected goals percentage (xGF%) during 5-on-5 play at 36.29%. Even with it being preseason, those numbers are still concerning.

This is a battle between two teams trending in opposite directions this season, so I'm not afraid to back the road underdogs in the first game of the season.

Blackhawks/Penguins OVER 6.5 (-120)

I expect the Chicago Blackhawks to be one of the more exciting teams to watch this season which should result in plenty of OVERs cashing for them. They're in the early stages of a rebuild, but they have some exciting players on offense including the No. 1 overall pick, Connor Bedard.

Meanwhile, the Penguins created plenty of scoring opportunities last season by had trouble finding the back of the net at times. With this being a brand new season, I'm going to hope their shooting woes will be in the past.

Let's sit back and root for goals in Bedard's NHL debut.

Kraken +140 vs. Golden Knights

One of my favorite things to do is bet against the defending champions on their banner-raising night. Fading the, "There's no way they lose tonight!" narrative is the kind of thing that gets me up in the morning. I love it.

Everything clicked for the Golden Knights in the playoffs last season, but don't fool yourself into thinking it's going to be easy for them to replicate the same level of success. They still don't have the star-power to make beating them seem like an impossible task and the Seattle Kraken were one of the most feisty teams in the league last season, constantly giving their opponents an issue.

I'll take a shot at Seattle taking down the defending champs in the final game of the night.

Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

You can check out all of Iain's bets here!

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