The NHL season is winding down it’s first month of action. October has provided a number of surprises, including the Carolina Hurricanes, Colorado Avalanche and Vancouver Canucks all of whom exceeded expectations. Let’s take a closer look at the best NHL betting matchups on the final Saturday of the month.
Edmonton Oilers at Nashville Predators
As ridiculous as Connor McDavid has been playing these days – he has 13 points in just seven games – it still hasn’t made the Oilers a winning team. They were just 3-3-1 through their first seven games of the season. Nashville had won seven of its first nine games to start the year, so this will be an intriguing matchup. Oddly enough, those two Preds’ losses both came at home as they’ve been a better road team so far.
Winnipeg Jets at Toronto Maple Leafs
Could this be a Stanley Cup finals preview? The Great White North would love it. Realistically, both teams have a shot as the Jets had won six of their first 10 (with an overtime loss) and the Leafs had won seven of their first 10.
This will wrap up a home-and-home between the teams as the two squared off in Winnipeg on Wednesday, when the Leafs won 4-2.
Montreal Canadiens at Boston Bruins
What in the world is going on with the Montreal Canadiens? Expected to be one of the worst teams in the NHL, they’ve actually won five of their first eight games. And if you’re thinking that Carey Price has been carrying the team, you’d be wrong as he has a pedestrian 2.48 GAA and .906 save percentage so far this season. It’s the offense, which has scored at least three goals in five straight entering Thursday’s game with Buffalo, that has been thriving.
The Bruins were 5-2-2 in their first nine games but keep in mind that they’ve already played six road games.
Colorado Avalanche at Minnesota Wild
While McDavid may get more of the attention, how about the Avs forward combination of Mikko Rantanen (16 points), Nathan MacKinnon (15) and Gabriel Landeskog (12)? They’ve been unstoppable. MacKinnon already has eight goals in just 10 games. That puts him on pace for about 65 goals if he can keep that up.
We’ll see what the Avs offense is able to do against Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk, who has allowed two goals or less in four of his six starts this season.
Pittsburgh Penguins at Vancouver Canucks
The Canucks started the season by winning six of their first 10 games, including a 3-2 overtime win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on October 16th. It was one of the biggest upsets so far as they cashed at +205. They’ve been one of the best teams to bet so far as they’ve cashed as an underdog in all of their wins, including +250 at Las Vegas on Wednesday, +175 at Florida on October 13th and +245 at Tampa Bay on October 11th.
Do they have another surprise in them on Saturday when the Penguins visit? This will be the late game in the CBC double-header, it will have the national spotlight up in Canada.
