It’s opening night in the NHL! Hunter Skoczylas shares his favorite NHL bets on DraftKings Sportsbook for tonight’s three-game slate.

The New Jersey Devils and Buffalo Sabres got the 2024-25 NHL season started on Friday and Saturday in Prague, Czechia as part of the 2024 NHL Global Series but tonight is the night that daily hockey for six straight months officially begins. There are three games on opening night –– here are my favorite bets on DraftKings Sportsbook.
I don’t necessarily love betting anytime goalscorers on the first slate of the season. But, did you know that Jordan Kyrou loves playing against the Kraken? Dating back to January 2022, Kyrou has netted a goal in five of the last eight meetings against the Kraken, including each of the past two season series openers against them. Although he’s on the second line paired with Alexandre Texier and Pavel Buchnevich, he still logged the third most ice time per game (18:19) last season. He also should be able to carry his strong momentum from the final seven games of last season, a stretch in which he totaled six goals and nine points.
You can pair Kyrou to net a goal with his shots on goal prop set at 2.5 and currently on the rise at -160 odds in a Same Game Parlay (SGP) on DraftKings Sportsbook for +220 odds, as well. Seattle was a rather stout defense last season, however, allowing the eighth-fewest shots per game (29.2) and third-fewest (4.80) to opposing right wings. But Kyrou doesn’t care about that at all as he’s surpassed this line in seven of the last eight meetings against Seattle. We trust in Kyrou the Kraken Killer.
I’m not expecting this game to be high-scoring by any means with Sergei Bobrovsky set to start between the pipes for Florida but getting plus odds for one point from Zacha, a linemate of both David Pastrnak and Elias Lindholm, seems like great value. Zacha is coming off a season where he posted a career-high in assists (38) and points (59) and is going to be depended on to be a main contributor in Boston’s offense again this season. He totaled a point in 46/77 games (60%) last season as well as five points in the last four meetings against the Panthers. At the end of the day, if Pastrnak does what he does best, and that is score goals, Zacha can pad the assists category and easily secure a point.
Boston’s bread and butter is still going to be stifling defense and elite goaltending but it might be able to take advantage tonight against a Florida squad that looks much weaker than it did while hoisting the Stanley Cup. Both Brandon Montour and Vladimir Tarasenko left in free agency and Florida canceled its ring ceremony due to Hurricane Milton threatening the area. The vibes are off –– and Boston likely has a sour taste in its mouth after losing to Florida in the second round of last year’s playoffs.
Taking the Bruins on the Moneyline at +130 is enticing considering they have won 10 of the last 15 regular season meetings against the Panthers. The Bruins have also won their opening regular season game in each of the past five seasons.
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At first glance, this looks like a low-scoring game but that shouldn’t be the case. Chicago ranked dead last in goals per game (2.2) and allowed the third-most goals per game (3.5) last season while Utah (formerly Arizona) ranked 16th and 10th in those categories, respectively, with 3.1 goals per game and 3.3 goals allowed per game. What I’m getting it is that both of these teams were awful defensively and are expected to roll out the same goaltenders they did last season.
Chicago bolstered its offensive attack by signing both Teuvo Teravainen and Tyler Bertuzzi and defensive presence by signing veterans Alec Martinez and T.J. Brodie. The team should be much more competitive this season, especially with Connor Bedard leading the way. Utah was already a middling squad that is also expected to take a step in the right direction this season. The team’s recent relocation from Arizona to Utah should bring nothing but good vibes and the team is full of quality goalscorers and overall depth.
This total has also gone over in five of the last six meetings between these two teams. I’d even consider taking Utah on the Moneyline, which is currently a bit juicy at -180 on DraftKings Sportsbook but I’m expecting the players to put on a show for their new city and take advantage of Chicago’s poor goaltending.
Place your NHL bets at DraftKings Sportsbook or by downloading the DraftKings Sportsbook app.
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All odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook, lines and odds subject to change.
All views expressed are my own. I am an employee of DraftKings and am ineligible to play in public DFS or DKSB contests.

Buffalo native now based out of Rochester, Hunter is an editor and writer for DraftKings, where he primarily covers the NFL, NHL and NBA. He graduated from the University at Buffalo and served as a sports editor with the school newspaper for two years before joining the DraftKings team in 2022. Go Bills!

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