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It's been 112 days since the St. Louis Blues raised the Stanley Cup, and while I'm sure your team's comeback win in your rec league last week was as memorable as you've hyped it up to be, it's a relief to have real, meaningful NHL hockey back in our lives.
The league has cooked up a banger for opening night, too. The last two Stanley Cup champions meet in The Lou, there's a pair of all-Canadian matchups, and the San Jose Sharks and Vegas Golden Knights renew what's quickly developed into the greatest rivalry in hockey (shame about that whole Evander Kane suspension, though). Now, let's make a great night even better by winning some money:
Game betting
The Toronto Maple Leafs open as heavy favorites over the basement-dwelling Ottawa Senators, with the two teams projected to be at opposite ends of the standings by the end of the season. There's little value in backing the Leafs at -290, while even the -1.5 puck line has you laying juice. Could there be value with the road underdog, though? The Sens won three of four in the Battle of Ontario last season. With expectations high for the Leafs this year and the team expected to reveal its new captain before the start of the game, it's hard to envision anything other than a home win here.
Toronto's captaincy decision won't hold a candle to the pregame ceremony in St. Louis, though, as the Blues are set to raise their Stanley Cup banner before taking on the Washington Capitals. The Caps were in this spot on opening night last season and went on to beat the Boston Bruins 7-0 after raising their banner. However, since the lockout in 2005, defending Stanley Cup champions are 4-9 on banner raising night. The Caps are also 39-19-3 over the last four seasons on the road against Western Conference teams. Perhaps a play on the road team is in order here.
The Edmonton Oilers are hoping to put a disappointing year behind them as they begin their campaign Wednesday at home to the Vancouver Canucks. They're 7-2 at home to the Canucks in the Connor McDavid era.
Meanwhile, in Vegas, the Golden Knights will be out for revenge after their improbable collapse in Game 7 against the Sharks last season. This should be a highly entertaining game to cap off the night - albeit slightly less so now that Kane and Ryan Reaves won't be going three rounds at center ice. Vegas is 9-4 in franchise history at home in October.
Game props
While the Leafs can rack up goals with the best of them, they have their problems with keeping pucks out of their own net. The Senators scored nine times in two games in Toronto last season and averaged 4.16 goals per game at Scotiabank Arena over the last three years. A bet on the Sens' team total over 2.5 goals sits at +110 and is worth a look, as is the over 3.5 at +285 if you're feeling especially frisky.
The first-period goal total prop is intriguing in Edmonton, as there have been 11 opening-frame tallies in the last four meetings between the Canucks and Oilers in Alberta. There have been at least two markers during the initial 20 minutes in each of those contests, making the over 1.5 first-period goals (-110) an attractive bet. The first-period over has also hit in three of four regular-season meetings between the Sharks and Golden Knights in Vegas.
Player props
Auston Matthews tends to pad his stats against the Senators, with 10 goals and seven assists in 12 contests against them since he entered the league. Backing him to score at any time in the game is appealing, but less so at the -120 price tag. Instead, take a look at him to be the game's first scorer at +850.
Another name to look at in this game is Ottawa's Thomas Chabot. He's the quarterback of the Senators' power play and should have ample opportunity to get on the scoresheet against a Leafs team that is without its top four penalty killers from last season (Nikita Zaitsev, Ron Hainsey, Zach Hyman, and Connor Brown). Chabot has four goals in six games against the Leafs and presents good value at +250 to find the back of the net. The over 0.5 assists prop is also definitely worth a stab at +105.
There's plenty of value in Vancouver's Brock Boeser to record an assist at +160, as he had four in as many games against the Oilers last season. Stay away from the McDavid and Leon Draisaitl goal props, though. The former hasn't scored in any of his last five home games against the Canucks, while Draisaitl has just five goals in 21 career games against Vancouver.
A much stronger bet in the scoring market would be William Karlsson to find the back of the net for Vegas, as he's scored seven goals in eight games as a Golden Knights player against the Sharks, including four in four at home. I'd much rather back him at +155 than someone like McDavid (-125) or Draisaitl (-125).
Alex Moretto is a sports betting writer for theScore. A journalism graduate from Guelph-Humber University, he has worked in sports media for over a decade. He will bet on anything from the Super Bowl to amateur soccer, is too impatient for futures, and will never trust a kicker. Find him on Twitter @alexjmoretto.
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