The NHL schedule for Thursday night features a much bigger selection of games to watch compared to opening night on Wednesday. Two teams that will open their seasons tonight are Anaheim and Pittsburgh, who both have Stanley Cup aspirations. Both of these teams ended last year with disappointing finishes in the playoffs. Each club made some key changes in the off-season to improve for this year. We like Anaheim on the road as they steal a victory to begin the 2014-2015 NHL season.
Ryan Kesler joins the Ducks after spending the last 10 seasons as a member of the Vancouver Canucks. Anaheim set a club record for points in a season with 116 last year and led the league in goals scored per game with 3.21. The Ducks dropped their second-round playoff series to the Los Angeles Kings by scoring two goals or less in five of the seven games played in the series.
Dan Bylsma is no longer the head coach of the Penguins. He was replaced by Mike Johnston in the off-season. Evgeni Malkin might not be on the ice tonight after suffering an undisclosed injury recently. He said the chances of him playing tonight is 50-50. He hopes to remain healthy this season in an effort to secure the Penguins first Cup title since 2009. Gone are defensemen Matt Niskanen and Brooks Orpik, who left via free agency for the Washington Capitals.
On Thursday night we will place our NHL bets over at BetOnline.ag, where the visiting Ducks are underdogs in this contest. We will drop 15 percent of our bankroll on the Ducks and the OVER 5.5 total goals scored as these two teams explode offensively in their season openers. Tonight’s NHL action should be much better than Wednesday night, so get ready for the puck to drop.
