Top Shelf Picks: NHL Best Bets Today (Predictions for Isles-Pens, Geekie, Habs-Wings, Dorofeyev)

Breaking down the best picks on the ice for the 14-game NHL slate on Thursday, October 9.

Sidney Crosby and the Penguins are home underdogs after a shutout win in their season opener. / Brad Penner-Imagn Images

The NHL season ramps things up on Thursday night with 14 games on the docket.

After a slow start to the season, we went 4-0 on our NHL best bets on Wednesday night. Let’s try to keep that going for this massive Thursday night slate.

My best bets for today are targeting a pair of home teams and top-line wingers.

Let’s get right into the best bets – and their odds at the best betting sites – for Thursday, Oct. 9.

NHL Best Bets for Thursday, Oct. 9

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook

• Pittsburgh Penguins (+114) vs. New York Islanders
• Morgan Geekie OVER 0.5 Points (-165) vs. Chicago Blackhawks
• Detroit Red Wings (-135) vs. Montreal Canadiens
• Pavel Dorofeyev OVER 2.5 Shots on Goal (-168) at San Jose Sharks

Pittsburgh Penguins (+114) vs. New York Islanders

The Pittsburgh Penguins opened their season with a dominating shutout win at Madison Square Garden over the New York Rangers. They outshot the Rangers 31-25 with Arturs Silovs getting the shutout in his first Penguins start.

The Penguins now return to PPG Paints Arena for their home opener against the New York Islanders in their season opener. Pittsburgh was under .500 last season, but won 21 of its 41 home games. On the flip side, the Islanders went 16-18-7 on the road.

New York is in the middle of a quick rebuild on Long Island after trading Noah Dobson and lucking into the first overall pick. The Isles may be a better team overall this season, and in the near future, but the Penguins are looking to start strong in what could be the final years in Pittsburgh for their key trio of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang, and they haven’t traded off pieces like Rickard Rakell or Erik Karlsson yet.

I’ll take the Penguins as home underdogs on Thursday night.

Morgan Geekie OVER 0.5 Points (-165) vs. Chicago Blackhawks

I’m running it back with Morgan Geekie after the Bruins winger recorded two points in the season opener on Wednesday night. It’s a back-to-back situation for Boston, but it’s the home opener against a lowly Chicago Blackhawks team.

Geekie picked up right where he left off last season, when he had an 11-game point streak and 22 points in his final 14 games.

If the Bruins are playing, I’ll likely be targeting either Geekie or Elias Lindholm props as long as they play alongside David Pastrnak. Pastrnak is -320 to record a point while Geekie is -165 and Lindholm is -135. The only way I would play Pastrnak is to record an assist at -120, but I’m riding with the Geek Squad again tonight.

Detroit Red Wings (-135) vs. Montreal Canadiens

The Montreal Canadiens started their season with a rivalry game in Toronto on Wednesday night, and likely exerted most of their energy and excitement for that one – a 5-2 loss. They deserved a better fate, holding a 2-2 tie score until the third period.

However, they now head into Detroit, where the Red Wings were 22-16-3 at home last season. The Canadiens went 17-19-5 last year on the road and are already 0-1-0 to begin the season.

The Habs might be able to put up a good fight again, but the Red Wings should take this one, and this line is a bit shorter than I’d expect given the situation.

Pavel Dorofeyev OVER 2.5 Shots on Goal (-168) at San Jose Sharks

Pavel Dorofeyev was questionable to start the season, but there were no questions on Wednesday night as he opened the year with a hat trick on five shots on goal (and nine total attempts).

The winger had at least three SOG in 54 of 82 games last season, including all three matchups against the Sharks. In fact, he piled up 16 shots against the Sharks in just three games.

If you don’t want to lay the -168 juice, you can take 4+ SOG at +140. He managed that in 32 games last season, including two of the three games against San Jose.

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Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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