The 2026-27 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season arrives for its second Saturday of the new season. We went 3-1 (75%, +206) in the first Saturday NHL picks column last week, so it’s a nice start. Let’s keep it rolling.
The NHL has 14 games on the slate today, including three matinee games. We’ll focus on the evening slate of outings, including a battle in Alberta and a game from Sin City. Below are our top NHL picks & predictions for Saturday, October 10th.
Saturday's Best NHL Picks & Predictions
Odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook | All bets are for 1 unit
Anaheim Ducks (-125) at Calgary Flames (+105) | O/U 6.5 (-102/-118)
The Ducks (3-1-0) roll into the Scotiabank Saddledome on Saturday night trying to add to the woes of the Flames (0-4-0), as Calgary is off to a dreadful start to the new campaign. This is the first of a home-and-home set between these Pacific Division combatants.
Anaheim has won four of the past five meetings in this series since April 9th, 2025, but all four of those victories came in overtime or a shootout, with Calgary’s lone win coming in SoCal in last season’s final meeting on April 4th. The under is 3-1 in the past four meetings in Calgary, too.
Anaheim has fired out to a very nice start, winning three of the first four games, although two of those victories were by a single goal. The lone blemish was a 5-2 loss to the Flames’ provincial rivals, the Edmonton Oilers, on Wednesday. The Ducks bounced back nicely for a 5-1 win at Winnipeg on Friday night, but now they face their first back-to-back situation of the season, which all but means Ville Husso, the backup goaltender, will make his first start of the season. That’s not a bad thing, though, as Husso won 10 games in 19 starts for the Ducks last season, including a 3-2 overtime win on March 26th in Calgary, stopping 23 out of 25 shots.
The good news for the Flames is that they doubled their season’s production with three goals last time out on Thursday, but the bad news is that they lost 7-3 to the visiting Colorado Avalanche. Calgary is now averaging just 1.5 goals per game (GPG) through the first four outings, while allowing at least four goals in all of those games and six or more in three of them. The over is 3-1 in four games overall.
Don’t get too carried away, but backing Anaheim with a rather moderate bet is the way to go. Calgary isn’t going to lose every game this season, obviously, but it has shown very few signs of slowing down the opposition. Until that happens, keep fading the Flames hard. And we’ll go with the over based on Calgary’s inability to keep pucks out of its own net.
Picks: Ducks Moneyline (-125) & Over 6.5 Goals (-102)
Los Angeles Kings (-105) at Vegas Golden Knights (-114) | O/U 6.5 (+106/-130)
The Kings (0-2-1) and Golden Knights (4-1-0) hook up at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, and these games are usually very tight. Three of the past five games in the series have resulted in one-goal games, including one in overtime and one in a shootout. They’re generally high-scoring affairs, too, with the over 6-2 across the past eight games in the series since October 22nd, 2024.
Los Angeles has gotten off to a tough start, falling 2-1 against the visiting Florida Panthers last time out on Tuesday. It is still searching for its first victory, although the past two games have been decided by a single goal after getting punished in Colorado to open. After the Kings allowed 13 goals in the first two games, Darcy Kuemper righted the ship, allowing just two goals against Florida, a step in the right direction.
Vegas outlasted the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3 on Thursday night, and it has won three in a row. The Golden Knights have scored three or more goals in all five games to date, while allowing at least two goals in each of the five tilts. The over is 4-1 so far for Vegas.
Based on the series trends, Los Angeles’ defensive and goaltending struggles and Vegas’ high-octane offense, the best play here is the over.
In addition, let’s back Vegas to get the job done on the Moneyline, as the Golden Knights can be trusted on home ice, although the Kings are trending in the right direction, so go a little lighter.
Picks: Golden Knights Moneyline (-162) & Over 6.5 Goals (+114)
