NHL picks: Avalanche vs. Kings odds, prediction for Opening Night on Tuesday
Colorado and Los Angeles meet in the 2025-26 season opener for both teams. Check out some of our best bets for NHL's Opening Night
Two of the top teams in the Western Conference last year meet on Opening Night of the 2025-26 NHL season as the Colorado Avalanche visit the Los Angeles Kings at 10:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday. Los Angeles (48-25-9) is coming off one of its best regular seasons as it matched the franchise records of 48 wins and 105 points to finish fourth in the West. Colorado (49-29-4) was fifth in the conference despite having its points total (102) decrease for the third consecutive campaign.
If you're interested in NHL betting and looking to get the latest Avalanche vs. Kings odds and predictions, check out the SportsLine Projection Model.
Los Angeles hopes to make captain Anze Kopitar's final NHL season a successful one, as it has its sights set on its first Stanley Cup championship since 2014. The 38-year-old Slovenian center, who is a two-time Cup champion, three-time Lady Byng Trophy winner and two-time Selke Trophy recipient, announced last month he was retiring after this campaign. The Kings, who haven't won a playoff series since that 2014 championship and have been eliminated in the first round by the Edmonton Oilers each of the past four years, were led offensively in 2024-25 by Adrian Kempe (35 goals, 73 points) and Kevin Fiala (35 goals). Kempe is +200 to score a goal in the season opener at FanDuel Sportsbook, while Fiala is +210.
Colorado boasts one of the NHL's top offensive players in 2024 Hart Trophy winner Nathan MacKinnon, who registered his third consecutive 100-point season in 2024-25 with 116 to finish second in the league for the second straight campaign. The Avalanche also possess reigning Norris Trophy winner Cale Makar, who also captured the award in 2022 before taking home the Conn Smythe Trophy as Colorado won the Stanley Cup for the third time in franchise history that year. MacKinnon (32) and Makar (30) both reached the 30-goal plateau last season, and the former is +140 at FanDuel to tally in Tuesday's contest while three-time 20-goal scorer Valeri Nichushkin is +210.
The Avalanche, who have won 15 of their last 20 meetings with Los Angeles, are -118 favorites (wager $118 to win $100) in the latest consensus odds while the Kings are listed at -102 (wager $102 to win $100). The total is set at 5.5. For the latest model projections and expert picks for Avalanche vs. Kings, visit SportsLine.
Here's a look at the model's picks for Kings vs. Avalanche on Tuesday, Oct. 7.
COLORADO AVALANCHE at LOS ANGELES KINGS | 10/7 | 10:30 p.m. ET
Money line
Pick: Kings -102
Los Angeles wins in 57% of simulations
Puck line
Pick: Kings +1.5 (-254)
Los Angeles covers in 79% of simulations
Over/Under
Pick: Over 5.5
The Over hits in 62.6% of simulations
Projected score: Kings 3.5, Avalanche 3.0
