Andrew Berkshire's picks for Wednesday's NHL action include a high-scoring win for the Canadiens and a big night for Connor McDavid.
The time has come! Summer is over, and we’re embarking on another NHL season. Excitement is in the air after watching the Vegas Golden Knights hang their first Stanley Cup banner in their home opener against the Seattle Kraken. Just over seven minutes in, the Golden Knights executed a phenomenal passing play spanning the entire length of the ice that ended in a tap in goal, then cruised to a satisfying victory, reminding their fans why they’re Stanley Cup champions. What other storylines can we expect from the second night of the 2023-24 season?
Montreal Canadiens to beat Toronto Maple Leafs & over 5.5 total goals 6.50
Over the course of the season, these two teams are going to have wildly different fates. The Maple Leafs look to be the class of the Atlantic division, while the Canadiens are most likely to be at the bottom of the division, and the NHL standings overall. However, when these two teams play each other, it’s almost always a tight score.
Add to that, the Maple Leafs have seen a ton of turnover since last season, with essentially the entire depth scoring of the team being replaced. The Canadiens meanwhile, are healthy for the first time since the first month of last season, and I think they can start similarly to last season, surprising Toronto in the first game.
Connor Bedard to score vs Boston Bruins 3.00
He wasn’t able to net one against Sidney Crosby in the Penguins on Tuesday night, and it’s not about to get any easier against defence-first Boston, but let’s put the extremely young Bedard’s first game in context. He put a whopping 11 shot attempts towards the net in just over 21:28 of ice time, 15 per cent of Chicago’s total shot attempts came from the blade of Bedard’s stick.
On top of that, he led all Blackhawks in shot attempt differential relative to teammates, and led all Chicago forwards in expected goal share relative to teammates. He did this despite spending most of his ice time matched up against Sidney Crosby’s line and Erik Karlsson’s defence pairing. That’s incredibly impressive.
Los Angeles Kings to beat Colorado Avalanche 2.50
It’s not very often that the home team isn’t favoured to win, but the Colorado Avalanche are a juggernaut to deal with for opponents. With that said, they’re a team that very often starts the season slow, and Los Angeles is a very good team, on home ice.
Add to that, the Kings have a new look centre line with Pierre-Luc Dubois added down the middle to compliment Anze Kopitar and Phillip Danault. None of them are a match for Nathan MacKinnon, but the drop off to Ryan Johansen and Ross Colton down the middle after that is significant to say the least. Neither team is blessed with stability in goal, so this could be a very fun watch.
Connor McDavid to score 2+ points 1.60
The payout is small, but if there’s one guy you can rely on to make good on small bets, it’s Connor McDavid. He looks like he’s still mad about not winning it all last season, and that spells danger for the rest of the NHL.
Fresh off of a 153-point season, the highest mark of any player since Mario Lemieux hit 161 in 1996, McDavid has an aura of determination to begin the season. If league-wide scoring continues to trend upwards, don’t be shocked if McDavid starts pushing his production into 1980’s territory.
