Expert NHL Betting Picks Today: Saturday, Oct. 3

Get expert NHL betting picks for Blues vs Avalanche & Flames vs Canucks. Discover top bets, odds, and parlay strategies for Saturday's thrilling matchups!

October 3, 2026

Expert NHL Betting Picks Today: Saturday, Oct. 3

By:

Daniel Dobish

October 3, 2026

NHL Picks

Every start/sit, every waiver, every trade, plus NBA and NHL all winter. We make the call.

Every start/sit, every waiver, every trade. We make the call.

NHL Best Bets & Picks: Blues at Avalanche & Flames at Canucks – Expert Game Previews

The 2026-27 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season rolls on Thursday, the first day of October. We've seen three of these teams in action already, while the San Jose Sharks get their season underway.

The Florida Panthers meet the San Jose Sharks at 10:00 p.m. ET at SAP Center, while the Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks battle at 10:00 p.m. ET in the second end of a home-and-home to open the season. Both of those games are available on ESPN+.

We'll provide single plays and parlay opportunities you could potentially pair with Tuesday's MLB postseason or WNBA playoff action. Good luck with all of your plays! Let's get started.

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For the latest NHL Odds, including NHL Futures and NHL player props, visit RotoWire's NHL Betting page. For up-to-date NHL player news and NHL Injury Report info, head to RotoWire's NHL Lineups page. You can find more picks at Bookies.com/picks. Here are our NHL Best Bets today, featuring expert NHL picks for an action-packed slate of games.

St. Louis Blues at Colorado Avalanche

The Blues (1-0-0) travel to meet the Avalanche (1-0-0) at Ball Arena in Denver at 9 p.m. ET, and the game can be viewed or streamed on ESPN+.

St. Louis (+154) opened the season Friday with a shocking 4-0 road victory against the Dallas Stars as moderate underdogs, as Joel Hofer turned aside all 25 shots he faced in a road win.

With the back-to-back situation, Jordan Binnington is expected to make his first start, and Mackenzie Blackwood is projected to be in between the pipes for the home side.

These teams met three times last season, with the Avalanche winning two of the meetings. However, St. Louis did win in Denver by a 3-2 count on April 5 in the front end of a home-and-home set as moderate underdogs (+155). The Avs returned the favor in St. Louis in the second end of that set, by the way, and the road team has won six of the psat 10 meetings since Nov. 11, 2023. The Under is 6-3 in the past nine in the series, too.

For St. Louis, it went 3-0-1 in the final four tries last season when playing on no rest, while the Under was 5-2-1 in the past eight games of a back-to-back situation.

In the opener, Colorado manhandled the visiting Los Angeles Kings 8-4 on Wednesday as a heavy favorite (-205), covering the puck line while easily cashing the Over (6.5). The scoresheet was littered with Avalanche players sporting multi-point games, as Nathan MacKinnon and Artturi Lehkonen each registered two goals apiece, while Brock Nelson had a goal and three points. Jaden Schwartz, a former Blues winger, had two assists in his team debut. Cale Makar and Devon Toews each had two apples apiece, too.

We'll back the Avalanche to get the job done, and we'll go Under on the total in this second game for both sides.

Avalanche -1.5 Goals (-109 at BetRivers Sportsbook)
Under 6.5 Goals (-118 at DraftKings Sportsbook)

Calgary Flames at Vancouver Canucks

The Flames (0-1-0) and Canucks (1-1-0) hook up at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, B.C. at 10 p.m. ET, and the game can be viewed on ESPN+.

Calgary laid an egg against Seattle at the Scotiabank Saddledome Thursday night as the Over (5.5) cashed. G Dustin Wolf just didn't have it, allowing six goals on 32 shots, with only Ryan Strome providing any offensive support with a goal.

Devin Cooley will get the nod in this battle against the Canucks, as he is confirmed to go. He was 5-7-0 with a 2.80 GAA and .899 SV% in 16 starts on the road last season.

The Canucks started the new campaign with a couple of crazy matchups with the Edmonton Oilers in a home-and-home set. Vancouver stunned Edmonton 6-5 in overtime Tuesday as heavy underdogs (+245), while easily cashing the Over (6.5). In the rematch in B.C., the Oilers and Canucks had more fire-wagon hockey, as Edmonton won 9-7 in a video game-like result.

After Kevin Lankinen was trampled by the Oilers, Leevi Merilainen is expected to be between the pipes for the Canucks. He appeared in relief Thursday, kicking aside 10 of the 11 shots he faced. He was an impressive 7-3-1 with a 3.22 GAA and .869 SV% in 12 starts at home last season for the Ottawa Senators, and he did not face the Canucks last season.

Based on Vancouver's silly start, as far as offense and lack of defense, we'll go high on the total until things start to cool down. And, we'll back the Canucks to get the job done in the 'W' column too.