Washington Capitals

The defending champions have been savoring their first ever franchise Stanley Cup victory over the summer. The team was given 100 days during the off season to let each player have some quality time with the iconic trophy.

Superstar Alex Ovechkin took the Cup to his hometown of Moscow and did what any Russian would do…fill it with caviar of course!

Party in Moscow! @ovi8 day with the #stanleycup is coming to end. Lots of fun in Moscow with the captain. @NHL @HockeyHallFame @Capitals pic.twitter.com/YTSOgeY56s

— Philip Pritchard (@keeperofthecup) July 8, 2018

Now that the season has officially begun, the Caps are back to business. They absolutly demolished the Boston Bruins for their home opener at Capital One Stadium. The Bruins must have been in a daze when the Capitals came out blazing, scoring the first goal 24 seconds into play followed by another one about a minute later.

With a final score of 7-0, the Caps took their 13^th straight victory from the Bruins. You can’t celebrate too long in hockey as just one night later, the Caps were taken down a peg with an OT loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Next on the schedule will be a Stanley Cup Final rematch with the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday, October 10^th in Washington, D.C.

Vegas Golden Knights

The expansion team out of Vegas has a lot to live up to this year. Last season they jumped out of the gates, winning 8 of their first 9 games as a franchise. They steamrolled their way right into the Stanley Cup Finals, becoming just the third team in NHL history to do so in their inaugural season.

So I guess they got a bit of a shock when the Philadelphia Flyers outplayed them on their own ice for a 5-2 loss. Maybe the Knights were too distracted by their new banners hanging in the rafters: one for their Pacific Division win and the other for their Western Conference win.

Knights goalie Marc-André Fleury was pulled from the game in the second period but was not concerned about the team getting back on track.

“Getting embarrassed at home like this, maybe in the long run it’s, not better, but a good wakeup to show us the way we have to play to have success. I think we know that. That’s why I’m not too worried.” –Marc-André Fleury

The Golden Knights have one of the hardest early season schedules. Next up is a difficult road trip, where they will face the Minnesota Wild, Washington Capitals, Pittsburgh Penguins, and the Flyers, all teams that made the playoffs last season.

NHL Betting Odds

Both the Capitals and the Knights will have to fight to get repeats of their incredible 2017-2018 seasons. At Betsafe, neither team is considered a favorite to win the Cup this year. The Knights are at 10-1, while the Caps are up against 12-1 odds. But making predictions this early in the season is risky, as hockey has a long season with lots of time for anything to happen.

The good news is we will have tons of hockey action to bet on each week. Find the best odds in the league by using our Odds Comparison page. We have done all the work for you, just find your game and you’ll be given the best odds to bet on hockey.

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