- Our NHL best bet is Vegas -1.5 goals at +105 odds against the Chicago Blackhawks.
- Connor Bedard, who led Chicago with 75 points last season, is out until November after left shoulder surgery.
- Fourteen of Vegas’ 20 home wins came by two or more goals, and Chicago lost 16 of 41 road games that way.
- Vegas goalie Carter Hart posted a .891 save percentage in 18 regular-season games, while Chicago’s Spencer Knight saved 10.4 goals above average.
LAS VEGAS – The Vegas Golden Knights puck line at -1.5 goals and +105 is the best bet for Tuesday night’s NHL season opener, where the Chicago Blackhawks visit T-Mobile Arena without Connor Bedard. Puck drop is 10:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Vegas -1.5 Pays +105 Against A -256 Moneyline
Backing Vegas outright at -256 legal sports betting odds risks $256 to win $100. The puck line pays $105 on a $100 bet but loses whenever the Golden Knights win by one goal or in extra time, and six of their 20 home wins last season fell into that group.
At -256 odds, Vegas has to win by two or more goals in roughly 68% of its wins for +105 to break even. It cleared that at home last season, with 14 of 20 wins (70%) by two or more, so the price is fair rather than generous and Chicago’s side decides the bet. Some boards shade the puck line to +102 and the NHL betting total to 6.
Moneyline
- Bet
- Golden Knights
- Odds
- -256
- Implies
- 71.9%
Moneyline
- Bet
- Blackhawks
- Odds
- +221
- Implies
- 31.2%
Puck line
- Bet
- Golden Knights -1.5
- Odds
- +105
- Implies
- 48.8%
Puck line
- Bet
- Blackhawks +1.5
- Odds
- -125
- Implies
- 55.6%
Total 5.5
- Bet
- Over
- Odds
- -132
- Implies
- 56.9%
Total 5.5
- Bet
- Under
- Odds
- +115
- Implies
- 46.5%
Stanley Cup
- Bet
- Golden Knights
- Odds
- +950
- Implies
- 9.5%
Chicago Lost 16 Of 41 Road Games By Two Or More
The Blackhawks finished 29-39-14 with a minus-62 goal differential, second worst in the NHL. On the road they went 15-20-6, scoring 2.6 goals and allowing 3.4 per game.
Bedard scored 30 of Chicago’s goals and had 75 points in 69 games. The Blackhawks list him as injured/non-roster with an upper-body injury in their opening-night roster release. The Chicago Sun-Times reported in July that he had left shoulder surgery and is expected back in November.
Coach Jeff Blashill opened training camp with 37-year-old Patrick Kane on a line with Frank Nazar.
Hart And Last Season’s Meetings Argue Against The Cover
Carter Hart went 11-3-3 with a 2.71 goals-against average in the regular season, and his minus-1.9 goals saved above average makes him a shade below the typical goalie over that sample. He then went 14-8 with a .907 save percentage in the playoffs and allowed at least four goals in each of the first five Stanley Cup Final games, NHL.com reported.
Adin Hill posted a .871 save percentage in 27 games, and general manager Kelly McCrimmon has said Vegas needs both goalies to get through the season.
Spencer Knight went the other way, posting a .902 save percentage over 55 starts behind a bad team, and Chicago scored three or more goals in 21 of 41 road games. Each Chicago goal past two raises the margin Vegas needs to cover. The Golden Knights reached five goals in only 12 of 41 home games.
Last season’s three meetings also cut against the bet. Vegas won 4-0 on March 14, but it needed a shootout to win the Dec. 2 meeting and lost the Jan. 4 game in overtime. Pavel Dorofeyev, who scored twice in the March win, was traded to the New York Rangers in June after scoring 37 goals.
A New Coach After A Six-Game Final Loss
Craig makes his NHL head-coaching debut after Vegas lost the Stanley Cup Final to the Carolina Hurricanes in six games. He was hired June 17 after six seasons as a Vegas assistant and three coaching the AHL’s Henderson Silver Knights, replacing John Tortorella, who took over with eight games left in the regular season. Whether that Final loss lingers cannot be measured, but a first-time NHL head coach in a season opener is a real variable for a bet that needs a two-goal margin.
The market has cooled a shade on Vegas since then. The Golden Knights sit fifth on the Stanley Cup board, slightly longer than in last week’s Stanley Cup odds preview. Hart and Knight are the projected starters, according to Daily Faceoff, though neither team had confirmed its goalie.
