It's Opening Night in the National Hockey League -- Part Deux, as the puck drops for the first time in 2025-26 for seven more teams. The Los Angeles Kings head to Vegas to take on the Golden Knights in the second end of a back-to-back set.
The action fires off at 7 p.m. ET between Original Six teams, as the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs renew acquaintances, followed by the Boston Bruins and Washington Capitals meeting at 7:30 p.m. ET. The Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers fire up the latest installment of the Battle of Alberta, too, dropping the puck at 10 p.m. ET. 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 8
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Montreal Canadiens 
at Toronto Maple Leafs 
The Canadiens took care of the Maple Leafs 1-0 in last season's season opener at Bell Centre on Oct. 9, 2024, as Sam Montembeault nipped Anthony Stolarz in a low-scoring affair. Cole Caufield netted a power-play goal at 7:48 of the first period, and that was all of the scoring.
We might see a little more offense in this one, but don't expect much. Toronto won the final three regular-season meetings, including a 1-0 overtime victory at Scotiabank Arena on April 12. While the Leafs exploded for a 7-3 win in Montreal on Jan. 18, we had three Under results in four meetings last season, with an average of just 4.3 combined goals per game, and that was with the 10 goals total in the one meeting. So, that's just seven total goals in the other three contests.
In fact, the Under is 5-1 in the past six installments of this series. The Under is also 5-2 in the previous seven meetings in Hogtown.
This Leafs team will have a little bit of a different look, as Mitch Marner is now in Las Vegas, but the cupboard is certainly anything but bare, with Auston Matthews, Matthew Knies, William Nylander and John Tavares still in the mix. Matias Maccelli is expected to work with Knies and Matthews, while Bobby McMann is likely to skate on the second line with Nylander and Tavares.
The Canadiens might have spoiled the opener last season, but they've won just once in the past nine meetings. Let's back the defending Atlantic Division champs to get the job done, and take the Under here, too.
- Maple Leafs ML (-160 at Bet365 and Caesars Sportsbooks)
- Under 6 Goals (-102 at BetMGM)
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Boston Bruins 
at Washington Capitals 
The Bruins head to Capital One Arena looking to put a nightmare season in the rear-view mirror, but will Boston be much better in 2025-26?
The top-scoring line of Morgan Geekie, Elias Lindholm and David Pastrnak should be good, and additions of top-six forward Viktor Arvidsson and Casey Mittelstadt aren't bad, joining Pavel Zacha. There is a precipitous drop-off after that, although Tanner Jeannot was a nice addition, too. The checking line of Sean Kuraly, Marat Khusnutdinov and Mark Kastelic isn't expected to produce much, and it's hard to see Michael Eyssimont and Fraser Minten being difference makers, either.
Mason Lohrei is expected to be on the top defensive pairing with Charlie McAvoy, and Andrew Peeke is on the second pairing with Hampus Lindholm. That means Jeremy Swayman is likely to see A LOT of rubber this season, and he is going to have to stand on his head and steal games.
The Capitals still have that Great 8 guy, Alex Ovechkin, and he'll produce at a high rate with Aliaksei Protas and Dylan Strome on the top line. The line of Pierre-Luc Dubois, Connor McMichael and Tom Wilson is solid, too. After that, it's a crapshoot, but Washington is slightly better than Boston here.
Like the B's, the Caps will rely heavily upon Logan Thompson, hoping he can replicate his ridiculous numbers of a season ago.
We'll back the Caps in the opener and go low on the total, as each of these teams has decent top-six forwards, but there isn't a lot of pop from the bottom six on each side.
- Capitals ML (-188 at FanDuel Sportsbook)
- Under 5.5 Goals (-108 at DraftKings, BetRivers Sportsbooks)
Calgary Flames 
at Edmonton Oilers 
It's hard to believe the Flames and Oilers met just three times last season. That's a flaw in the scheduling, as these provincial rivals should always play at least four times per year.
In 2024-25, the road team won two of the three meetings, with Calgary posting a 4-1 win as heavy underdogs (+210) on Oct. 13, 2024, and the Oilers doubling up the Flames in Cowtown on Nov. 3. The Under cashed in all three meetings, and the total has gone low in four straight in the series, and seven of the previous nine installments of this rivalry.
We all know about Connor McDavid, who just agreed to a two-year extension with a hometown discount. He and Leon Draisaitl are back to work their magic together, trying to get over the hump after two straight unsuccessful trips to the Stanley Cup Finals against the Florida Panthers. Edmonton has a new look, though, as new faces litter the roster.
Zach Hyman (wrist) is on long-term injured reserve (LTIR), and he'll be out at least another month. Trent Frederic figures to get first crack with Draisaitl and McDavid up top. Andrew Mangiapane, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Matthew Savoie are expected to comprise the second line, with Isaac Howard, Adam Henrique and David Tomasek on the third line, and Vasily Podkolzin, Noah Philp and Kasperi Kapanen on the fourth line. Tomasek should see power-play time, too.
The Flames have a mix of extremely young players and veterans, hoping to earn just a few more points to get into the postseason. Calgary just missed the playoffs last season. Adam Klapka figures to play a major role at the top with Joel Farabee and Nazem Kadri to start, and Matthew Coronato and Matvei Gridin are expected to see top-six spots, at least until Jonathan Huberdeau and Martin Pospisil are healthy enough to debut.
Dustin Wolf is the undisputed starter with Dan Vladar now in Philadelphia, and he'll have a pretty decent defense in front of him, led by Rasmus Andersson, Kevin Bahl and MacKenzie Weegar, among others.
Let's take the Flames on the puck line as underdogs, and go low on the total here.
- Flames +1.5 (-135 at BetMGM, DraftKings and ESPNBet Sportsbooks)
- Under 6.5 Goals (-134 at FanDuel Sportsbook)
Best NHL Parlays Today
6-Leg NHL Monster Parlay (+2648 at FanDuel Sportsbook)
- Maple Leafs ML (-162) vs. Canadiens
- Under 5.5 (+112) - Maple Leafs vs. Canadiens
- Under 5.5 (-110) - Capitals vs. Bruins
- Capitals ML (-188) vs. Bruins
- Flames +1.5 (-138) at Oilers
- Under 6.5 (-134) - Flames at Oilers
3-Leg NHL Totals Parlay (+606 at FanDuel)
- Under 5.5 (+112) - Maple Leafs vs. Canadiens
- Under 5.5 (-110) - Capitals vs. Bruins
- Under 6.5 (-134) - Flames at Oilers
2-Leg NHL Play-it-Safe Parlay (+147 at FanDuel)
- Maple Leafs ML (-162) vs. Canadiens
- Capitals ML (-188) vs. Bruins
