St. Louis Blues forward Robert Thomas has four goals and six assists for ten points in nine career matchups versus Seattle
The NHL season kicks off Tuesday night with three exciting matchups to get fans back into the swing of things. Six teams will look to start off the season on the right note with the Kraken making significant changes with their roster that will hopefully pay off when they play the Blues.
The primetime game of Boston versus the defending Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers should get fans thrilled enough to stick around for the night cap featuring the inaugural home opener for the Utah Hockey Club taking on Connor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks. We look to start off the season in similar form to how we ended last regular season when we finished on a 14-4 run heading into the postseason.
All betting lines are from Bet365 and are subject to change. Hockey is a difficult sport to predict so please gamble responsibly.
Bet: Robert Thomas Over 0.5 points (-190), Anytime goal (+300)
The 25-year-old Blues centre has been a trendy pick for a breakout this upcoming season. He is coming off a year where he was a point-per-game player as he recorded with 26 goals and 60 assists for 86 points in a full 82-game season. In his nine career matchups against Seattle, Thomas has four goals and six assists for ten points. Seattle isn't giving any hints as to who they'll be starting in between the pipes although either veteran Philipp Grubauer or youngster Joey Daccord.
Both struggle in this matchup, Grubauer has allowed three or more goals in seven of his ten career starts versus St. Louis while Daccord is no better with a 0-2-2 record, 3.16 goals against average and a .871 save percentage in four career starts in this matchup. Thomas should certainly find the scoresheet and if you are feeling bold, you could elect to take his point coming in the way of a goal as his odds at +300 are very favourable considering his history in this matchup and will want to start off his season on the right foot. Last season, we finished with a 10-13 record on picks that had to do with the Blues and a 131-111 record on player props.
Bet: Pavel Zacha Over 0.5 points (+115)
The Bruins lineup will look slightly different this season with a new top line centre in free agent add Elias Lindholm. The former Vancouver Canuck was once a 70-80 point producer and with the Bruins organization being known for stabilizing players with their team's culture, he should return to being a valuable asset just like how they developed forward Pavel Zacha.
Since joining the Bruins, the 27-year-old Czech forward has grown into a 50-60 point producer and was a staple for our best bets last season. He finished with a perfect record of 4-0 when we called on him and multiple sources have him sliding over from centre to left wing, while still playing with prolific goal-scorer David Pastrnak on the opposite wing. The Pastrnak pairing makes Zacha a reliable sleeper pick to contribute on the scoresheet whenever Pastrnak does.
It provides a solid alternative for tapping into Pastrnak's point production without relying on him to rack up multiple points, especially since his odds for player props are among the highest in the league. The matchup versus the defending Stanley Cup Champions will be difficult but Zacha has three goals and 12 assists for 15 points in his last 17 games versus the Panthers.
Bet: Blackhawks Utah Hockey Club Over 6.0 goals (-120)
The Utah Hockey Club begin their history in the NHL in what is sured to be a fiery home opener as they've totaled six or more goals in nine of their last 14 matchups against the Chicago Blackhawks, when they were the Arizona Coyotes. Rookie sensation Connor Bedard has certainly contributed to that as the Blackhawks' offence has reached new heights, with the team scoring 13 goals in the three games he played against the former Arizona Coyotes.
Many will want to take the youngster because of this and you can as he recorded three goals and assists for six points in those three matchups but his over for a point at -210 is steep. The Blackhawks will have a lot of new pieces in their lineup like Tyler Bertuzzi and Teuvo Teravainen, who have both been 60-point producers at one point in their careers and will join Bedard on the top line.
Utah will also be playing with a lot of motivation in their inaugural game and shouldn't have a hard time scoring against Chicago team that allowed the fourth-most per game (3.52) and the sixth-worst penalty kill (75.8%) last season.
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