Top Shelf Picks: NHL Best Bets Today (Predictions for Sabres-Blue Jackets, Flyers-Devils, Oilers-Canucks)

The NHL has its biggest slate of the season so far with eight games on the docket for Thursday night.

After a perfect 3-0 night on Tuesday, the Flyers let us down last night. However, the Leafs bounced back and the Avalanche covered the puck line for another profitable night.

I’m targeting a pair of road teams and a high-scoring rematch for my NHL best bets tonight.

Let’s get right into my NHL best bets – and their odds at the best betting sites – for Thursday, Oct. 1.

NHL Best Bets for Thursday, Oct. 1

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook

Buffalo Sabres (-108) at Columbus Blue Jackets
Philadelphia Flyers (+136) at New Jersey Devils
Edmonton Oilers at Vancouver Canucks OVER 6.5 (-115)

Buffalo Sabres (-108) at Columbus Blue Jackets

I don’t quite understand why the Sabres aren’t favored in this matchup, and by a fairly decent margin.

Buffalo made it to the playoffs last season and although Alex Tuch and Bowen Byram left in the offseason, the Sabres still have plenty of depth with Tage Thompson and Rasmus Dahlin leading the way.

Meanwhile, the Blue Jackets just traded Kirill Marchenko, and I’m not expecting Matthew Knies to make a seamless transition to Columbus. Even if he does, Columbus still has quite a few holes on its roster.

The Sabres went 24-13-4 on the road last season, so it's not as if this should be some huge home-ice advantage for the Jackets, who were just 20-13-8 (read: 20 wins, 21 losses) at home last year.

Philadelphia Flyers (+136) at New Jersey Devils

The Flyers got embarrassed in their home opener last night, and that makes me that much more confident in them to bounce back tonight.

It’s not a far trip up to Newark for the Flyers, who will be hungry and ready to put last night’s loss to the Penguins behind them. Meanwhile, the Devils will be starting cold, and we saw the Leafs beat the Islanders in a similar situation last night.

Philadelphia also won all three meetings last season, beating the Devils 5-3, 5-3, and 5-1. There’s value here on the Flyers as road underdogs.

Edmonton Oilers at Vancouver Canucks OVER 6.5 (-115)

This pick cashed easily for us on opening night as the Canucks got a 6-5 win in overtime. The Oilers now have a chance for revenge, and a few days isn’t nearly enough time to fix their defensive issues – a few years hasn’t even been enough.

The Oilers are going to get their goals. I trust Edmonton to score at least four times in this one, and another five- or six-goal game could be in the cards as well. At the same time, I don’t trust the Oilers goalie, whether it’s Tristan Jarry or Devon Levi, to erase all of the problems in front of them.

This should be another high-scoring game between these two teams.

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Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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