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Thursday’s slate featured 12 games across the league, including a dramatic finish in Tampa Bay, a hat trick in Winnipeg, and Boston’s second straight clutch win. Here’s how the night unfolded.
Pittsburgh Penguins 4, New York Islanders 3
Justin Brazeau scored the go-ahead goal with 5:39 left in the third, lifting Pittsburgh over New York.
Evgeni Malkin had three assists, and both Sidney Crosby and Rickard Rakell added a goal and an assist. Rookie Harrison Brunicke, the first South African-born NHL skater, also scored. Tristan Jarry made 34 saves.
Top pick Matthew Schaefer, 18, assisted on Jonathan Drouin’s goal in his debut. Kyle Palmieri and Maxim Shabanov also scored for New York. Ilya Sorokin stopped 24 shots.
Capper Insight: Underdog bettors found Pittsburgh undervalued on the moneyline after market drift. A reminder of bankroll discipline from the Bettors Handbook.
Dallas Stars 5, Winnipeg Jets 4
Kyle Connor scored a hat trick a day after signing an eight-year extension, but Dallas prevailed behind balanced offense and resilience.
Mikko Rantanen tallied a goal and two assists, while Jason Robertson and Nils Lundkvist each added a goal and assist. Jake Oettinger made 21 saves.
Mark Scheifele had three assists for Winnipeg, and Connor Hellebuyck turned aside 32 shots.
Capper Insight: Dallas opened as a small favorite but drew sharp money late. Cappers who tracked line shifts through Odds & Scores saw a classic over trend developing early.
Boston Bruins 4, Chicago Blackhawks 3 (OT)
Fraser Minten scored at 2:12 of overtime to lift Boston to its 10th straight home-opening win.
Casey Mittelstadt, Tanner Jeannot, and Elias Lindholm also scored. Joonas Korpisalo made 21 saves.
Connor Bedard and Andre Burakovsky each had a goal and an assist for Chicago. Arvid Soderblom finished with 29 saves.
Minnesota Wild 5, St. Louis Blues 0
Ryan Hartman scored twice, and Filip Gustavsson made 26 saves for a shutout as Minnesota dominated St. Louis.
Matt Boldy had a goal and two assists, Marco Rossi scored and assisted, and Kirill Kaprizov added three helpers.
Jordan Binnington was pulled after allowing five goals on 21 shots.
New York Rangers 4, Buffalo Sabres 0
Igor Shesterkin stopped 37 shots for a shutout as New York rebounded from a season-opening loss.
J.T. Miller and Alexis Lafreniere each had a goal and an assist, while Carson Soucy and Adam Fox added tallies.
Alex Lyon made 29 saves for Buffalo, which remains in search of its first playoff berth since 2011.
Capper Insight: Rangers backers cashed comfortably on both the moneyline and regulation spread, extending a profitable early-season fade of Buffalo. See full capper results on the Picks Leaderboard.
Florida Panthers 2, Philadelphia Flyers 1
Brad Marchand scored the go-ahead goal early in the third, giving Florida its second win to start the year.
Anton Lundell added a goal, and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 19 shots.
Noah Cates scored for Philadelphia. Daniel Vladar made 32 saves in his Flyers debut.
Montreal Canadiens 5, Detroit Red Wings 1
Mike Matheson had a goal and assist, and Jakub Dobes made 30 saves as Montreal spoiled Detroit’s home opener.
Zack Bolduc, Oliver Kapanen, Alexandre Carrier, and Juraj Slafkovsky added goals for the Canadiens.
Dylan Larkin scored for the Red Wings. Starter John Gibson was pulled after allowing five goals on 13 shots.
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Carolina Hurricanes 6, New Jersey Devils 3
Seth Jarvis and K’Andre Miller each scored twice as Carolina defeated New Jersey.
Taylor Hall added a goal and assist, and Frederik Andersen stopped 19 shots.
Jesper Bratt led the Devils with a goal and assist, while Dougie Hamilton and Cody Glass also scored.
Ottawa Senators 5, Tampa Bay Lightning 4
Shane Pinto’s second goal broke a 4-4 tie with under two minutes remaining, giving Ottawa a comeback win in Tampa Bay.
Pinto added an assist, while Artem Zub recorded a goal and two helpers. Claude Giroux scored an empty-netter, and Linus Ullmark made 21 saves.
Brayden Point had three points for the Lightning, and Nikita Kucherov scored twice.
Capper Insight: Ottawa’s comeback underscored a profitable early-season trend for overs in Lightning home games, now 6-1 dating back to last spring.
Colorado Avalanche 2, Utah Mammoth 1
Nathan MacKinnon scored the go-ahead goal in the third as Colorado edged Utah.
Ross Colton added a tally, and Scott Wedgewood made 32 saves.
Dylan Guenther scored for Utah, and Karel Vejmelka stopped 25 shots.
Nashville Predators 2, Columbus Blue Jackets 1
Ryan O’Reilly scored the game-winner on the power play as Nashville opened its season with a home win.
Juuse Saros made 37 saves, while Michael Bunting added a goal.
Dimitri Voronkov scored for Columbus. Jet Greaves finished with 29 saves.
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Vegas Golden Knights 4, San Jose Sharks 3 (OT)
Reilly Smith scored 84 seconds into overtime as Vegas rallied past San Jose.
Jack Eichel had a goal and assist, and Mark Stone collected two assists.
Philipp Kurashev, Jeff Skinner, and Alexander Wennberg scored for San Jose.
Seattle Kraken 3, Anaheim Ducks 1
Joey Daccord made 35 saves as Seattle earned its first-ever opening-night win.
Vince Dunn, Mason Marchment, and Jared McCann scored for the Kraken.
Bennett Sennecke scored for Anaheim in his debut. Lukas Dostal stopped 28 shots.
Vancouver Canucks 5, Calgary Flames 1
Filip Chytil scored twice, and Thatcher Demko made 17 saves as Vancouver beat Calgary.
Kiefer Sherwood, Jonathan Lekkerimaki, and Brock Boeser also scored.
Morgan Frost netted Calgary’s only goal. Dustin Wolf allowed five goals on 26 shots.
Handicappers Roundup
Sean Kuchman leads the board with a 70 percent win rate and +$410 net from 10 plays in the Premium Package. Bill Blatt and Will Rogers both remain perfect at 100 percent, each earning +$205 from two picks in Premium and Starter Packages.
The group’s strong NHL start mirrors early success across MLB and NFL, driven by disciplined unit sizing and situational reads on home openers and totals.
Check today’s Free Service Plays and follow the full lineup of verified Handicappers for daily streaks and profit reports.
