It's Opening Night in the National Hockey League -- Part III, as the puck drops for the first time in 2025-26 for 19 more teams, as every team will finally have at least one game under its belt.
After playing Wednesday night and winning in Washington, the Boston Bruins play the second end of a back-to-back for the home opener Thursday night. The Calgary Flames are also in action, and they're on the road for a second straight night, this time in Vancouver for the opener of the Canucks. The Vegas Golden Knights, who lost in a shootout to the Los Angeles Kings, hop on a plane for San Jose to play against the Sharks in their opener at SAP Center. We're in it now!
All of Thursday's games are featured on ESPN+, with the New Jersey Devils and Carolina Hurricanes making their season debuts together, also on Hulu, at 7:30 p.m. ET. And, VGK and the Sharks battle at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ and Hulu.
We'll make a few picks and parlays. Let's get started.
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Expert NHL Picks and Top Betting Parlay Options for October 9
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.
New York Rangers 
at Buffalo Sabres 
The Rangers (0-1-0) travel to KeyBank Center to battle the Sabres (0-0-0) in their season opener.
New York opened the season in ugly fashion, falling 3-0 at Madison Square Garden Tuesday night against the Pittsburgh Penguins as a huge favorite (-230) while the Under (6) cashed.
The Rangers took 25 shots on goal, but they were unable to get a goal past Penguins tendy Arturs Silovs, making his team debut. Igor Shesterkin was the hard-luck loser for the Blueshirts, as he conceded just a single even-strength goal at 19:28 of the first period, as the other two markers were of the empty-net variety.
The Sabres won the season series, picking up two victories in three meetings, including an 8-2 rout as slight underdogs (+120) on Feb. 22. Buffalo outscored New York 16-6 in the three meetings, and the Sabres have won five of the past eight installments since March 31, 2023. The Over is 3-1 in the past four in this series, too.
Hope springs eternal in Western New York, and Buffalo looks to get off on the right foot against a team playing its first road game, and looking to atone for a shutout loss in the opener. We should get end-to-end action, so play the Over, and let's trust the Sabres to keep up their good work against the Blueshirts, and Buffalo is a solid value as short 'dogs.
- Sabres ML (-102 at FanDuel Sportsbook)
- Over 6 Goals (-110 at BetMGM)
Don't make any bets on your favorite sports betting apps without first consulting the latest NHL odds.
New Jersey Devils 
at Carolina Hurricanes 
Unlike the game above, we haven't seen either of these teams in the early season. We did see them in the postseason, with Carolina winning in five games in their playoff series against New Jersey.
In the regular season, the home team won all four meetings, with the favorite going 9-1 in the past 10 regular-season and postseason meetings since March 9, 2024. The Over was 2-0-2 in the four regular-season meetings in 2024-25, too.
The Devils are still very solid up top, with six bona fide scorers at the forward positions, and they have decent depth at the bottom six forwards, too. New Jersey's Brett Pesce, a former Cane, has been dealing with an undisclosed injury, but he is ready for the opener.
The Hurricanes made a giant splash, inking Nikolaj Ehlers to a free-agent contract, landing one of the biggest catches in the offseason. He is expected to pair with Sebastian Aho and Seth Jarvis for a super top line. Meanwhile, Jackson Blake signed a long-term extension, and he'll pair with Logan Stankoven and Andrei Svechnikov, giving Carolina a championship-caliber top-six forward group.
Jesperi Kotkaniemi (upper body) has been nursing an injury, and he is a question mark for the opener. He was recently cleared for practice and full contact, so that's a positive sign.
The difference here is Frederik Andersen vs. Jacob Markstrom. Andersen is a beast at home, posting a 2.48 goals-against average in nine starts last season, and a 1.39 GAA and .946 save percentage in 10 home outings in 2023-24. Back Carolina, and let's go low on the total.
- Hurricanes ML (-156 at FanDuel Sportsbook)
- Under 5.5 Goals (+105 at ESPN Bet Sportsbook)
Dallas Stars 
at Winnipeg Jets 
The Stars and Jets meet in Winnipeg, and that's exactly how the season ended for Winnipeg in the postseason. Dallas won in six games, including a 2-1 OT victory as a moderate favorite in the series finale.
The Jets won the President's Trophy last season with the best record in the regular season, including three victories in four tries against the Stars. Winnipeg outscored Dallas 8-2 in two meetings at Canada Life Centre.
Connor Hellebuyck won the Vezina Trophy last season with a 47-12-3 record, 2.01 GAA and .925 save percentage with eight shutouts. His best work came in front of the home crowd, too, going 27-3-3 with a 1.63 GAA and .938 save percentage and six shutouts at Canada Life Centre. He was 3-1-0 with a 1.01 GAA and .965 save percentage with a shutout against Dallas in four regular-season meetings.
On the flip side, Jake Oettinger was just 12-11-3 with a 3.16 GAA and .896 save percentage in 26 road starts last season, and he was 1-3-0 with a 3.72 GAA and .851 save percentage in four starts against the Jets.
There is no guarantee things will be the same, and the Jets did lose Ehlers to the Hurricanes in the offseason. But Winnipeg should still be dangerous as long as Hellebuyck is in the crease.
Let's back the Jets and go low on the total.
- Jets ML (-102 at FanDuel Sportsbook)
- Under 5.5 Goals (-105 at Bet365, BetMGM, Caesars, DraftKings and ESPN Bet)
Best NHL Parlays Today
6-Leg NHL Monster Parlay (+4207 at FanDuel Sportsbook)
- Sabres ML (-102) vs. Rangers
- Over 6.5 (+110) - Sabres vs. Rangers
- Under 5.5 (+100) - Hurricanes vs. Devils
- Hurricanes ML (-156) vs. Devils
- Jets ML (-104) vs. Stars
- Under 5.5 (-106) - Jets vs. Stars
3-Leg NHL Totals Parlay (+716 at FanDuel)
- Over 6.5 (+110) - Sabres vs. Rangers
- Under 5.5 (+100) - Hurricanes vs. Devils
- Under 5.5 (-106) - Jets vs. Stars
3-Leg NHL Sides Parlay (+1137 at FanDuel)
- Sabres ML (-102) vs. Rangers
- Hurricanes ML (-156) vs. Devils
- Jets ML (-104) vs. Stars
2-Leg NHL Same-Game Parlay (+216 at FanDuel)
- Under 5.5 (+100) - Hurricanes vs. Devils
- Hurricanes ML (-156) vs. Devils
