The NHL season opens Tuesday with three high-scoring games featuring key matchups between playoff teams and strong betting trends favoring the Avalanche, Rangers, and Blackhawks. 

The NHL season officially gets underway Tuesday with three exciting matchups on Opening Night offering plenty of chances to cash in early. Each game brings its own set of long-standing trends, including how teams historically perform in season openers, head-to-head records, and typical goal totals.

We kicked off the new NHL year on the right foot with a smooth preseason win as the Winnipeg Jets easily covered the spread against the Calgary Flames. Now, we're looking to carry that momentum into another profitable season. Last year, our season-long prop picks hit consistently, including calls on Mitch Marner, Mark Scheifele, Wyatt Johnston, Rasmus Dahlin, Teuvo Teravainen and Connor Hellebuyck, who not only went over his win total but also took home the Vezina Trophy. 

All betting lines are from BetMGM Sportsbook and are subject to change. Hockey is a difficult sport to predict so please gamble responsibly. 

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Bank On Offense 

If history is any indication, Opening Night in the NHL often delivers plenty of action on the scoreboard. As teams return to the ice with new line combinations and freshly implemented systems, defensive chemistry often takes a backseat to offensive execution, resulting in high-scoring games to start the season.

In 2024, two of the three Opening Night matchups went over 6.5 total goals. In 2023, two of three games topped 5.5 goals. The 2022 slate featured two games, with one clearing 6.5 goals. Both contests in 2021 also exceeded that same mark.

Even in 2019, which saw just one of four games surpass the 5.5 or 6.5 goal totals, every matchup still went over 4.5 goals. That consistency highlights the potential value in tracking live betting lines, particularly in games that start slow. For bettors, keeping a close eye on live totals could offer an edge, especially if the odds drop following a quiet opening frame.

CHI Blackhawks vs. FLA Panthers

As the puck drops on a new NHL season, the Chicago Blackhawks are set to open their campaign against an uncommon opponent in the Florida Panthers. This marks the first time the two teams will meet in a season opener since the 2009–10 season. 

The Blackhawks have struggled early with only three wins in their last ten season openers, but their games have rarely lacked offensive fireworks with nine openers featuring six or more goals. The Panthers enter this matchup with a much stronger track record in openers, having won six of their last ten. Like the Blackhawks, Florida has often lit up the scoreboard to start the season with six of their last ten openers have gone over the six-goal mark, making high totals a familiar theme for both clubs.

When it comes to head-to-head play, the Blackhawks and Panthers have split their last six regular season meetings. Despite that even record, Florida has severely struggled to cover the spread against Chicago, doing so in just three of their last twelve matchups. Goal scoring has defined this limited rivalry in recent years with eight of their last ten meetings having gone over 5.5 total goals.

Pick: Blackhawks +1.5 (-110), Over 5.5 goals (-120)

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PIT Penguins vs. NY Rangers

As the NHL season begins, the Pittsburgh Penguins find themselves with more questions than answers when it comes to opening night success. Despite a history filled with deep playoff runs and star power, the Penguins have struggled to start seasons on the right foot even in their best of times. They have won just four of their last ten season openers, and their defensive lapses have often led to high-scoring affairs. 

Seven of their last eight openers have gone over 5.5 goals, highlighted by their opener last season versus the Rangers, in which they were steamrolled in a 6–0 shutout. The Rangers routinely start on a good note having won six of their last ten openers, including three straight heading into Tuesday. Offensively, they tend to come out firing with six of their last nine openers have also gone over 5.5 goals thanks to their talent upfront with players like Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejad leading the charge. 

Head-to-head, the numbers are even more discouraging for Pittsburgh with the Penguins having lost ten of their last 14 meetings with the Rangers with their betting record even worse. New York has dominated this matchup and the sportsbooks against Pittsburgh with a 9-2 record against the spread over their last 11 matchups. 

This has included some high-scoring affairs with seven or more goals in seven of their last nine matchups. Pittsburgh finished with the third-worst in the league last season with little adjustments in the off-season to improve. Due to their lack of changes, riding with the Blueshirts is the clear pick as they are looking to bounce back this season while the Penguins don't appear any closer to leaving the basement of the league than they did last season. 

Pick: Rangers -1.5 (+110), Over 6.0 goals (-110)

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COL Avalanche vs. LA Kings

Among the most anticipated matchups on the NHL’s opening night slate, the showdown between the Colorado Avalanche and Los Angeles Kings stands out as a battle between two playoff-caliber teams with something to prove. Both clubs are entering the new season with high expectations, but their histories on opening night and against each other tell two very different stories.

The Avalanche have consistently been one of the league’s most reliable teams to start the season strong. Colorado has won seven of its last nine season openers, often setting the tone early with explosive offensive performances thanks to their superstar talents in Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar. The Avalanche have hit the over on 5.5 goals in four consecutive openers and in eight of their last ten. On the other side, the Kings have struggled in season debuts. Los Angeles has won just three of its last eleven season openers but have still produced offense with  five of their last six openers finishing with over 5.5 goals. 

These two teams last met on opening night in 2023, a game the Avalanche controlled from start to finish with a 5–2 victory that added to a history of matchup dominance. The Avalanche have won five of their last seven meetings against the Kings and hold a commanding 14-3-1 record in their last eighteen matchups. The Avalanche have also won convincingly, covering the spread in five of their last six meetings against the Kings with a streak of four straight covers heading into Tuesday’s season opener. All signs point toward another fast-paced, high-scoring contest, one that may once again tilt in Colorado’s favor.

Pick: Avalanche ML (-115), Over 5.5 goals (-120)

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