What a difference a week makes. In what has been quite an unpredictable start to the new NHL campaign, we've already witnessed a number of peculiar trends and performances from a myriad of different teams and players.

Hands in the air if you predicted the Philadelphia Flyers would be sitting in first place in a Metro Division full of killers, or that Jordan Binnington would be leading the league in goals-against average (amongst goalies with two-or-more starts), or that the Edmonton Oilers have yet to score a third-period goal …

That's what I thought.

As mentioned in last week's article, the first few weeks of the NHL season can be very tricky to handicap. Rosters in flux, coaches tinkering with line combos, players getting their legs and game speed up to snuff – it all leads to a tough time for hockey bettors. One in which dialing down your bet amount and how many games you wager on are both sound approaches to kick-off a fresh season of NHL wagering.

A loaded 15-game board awaits, so let's tap in and get this money. Good luck!

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2023-24 Saturday Record – (Complete Daily Record Tracked/Posted @Flips_Picks on X)

Gold: 0-1
Silver: 0-1
Bronze: 1-0
Side Bets (Located at the bottom of the article each week) : 3-0

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Gold Selection

Vancouver Canucks @ Florida Panthers – Pick: Panthers ML (-134)

Speaking of the difference a week can make, how about these Canucks. Opening the year by toppling a legit Stanley Cup threat in the Edmonton Oilers in back-to-back fashion had fans in Vancouver foaming at the mouth for a potential return to the playoffs for the first time in four seasons.

Fast forward two games and the Canucks are looking like a completely different team. A really disappointing showing against the Philadelphia Flyers followed up by a sloppy 60 minutes against the Tampa Bay Lightning brings this team back down to earth in a hurry just in time to face a Florida Panthers club finding its early confidence.

Two impressive wins against Eastern Conference juggernauts in the New Jersey Devils and Toronto Maple Leafs have the Panthers playing with confidence and clicking offensively coming into a tilt against a Canucks squad they've also tasted recent success against. Not only does Florida have wins in seven of its last 10 against Vancouver, it holds victories in six of the last seven against the Canucks on home ice. Straight up and down this is a really tough spot for Rick Tocchet's crew and a great one for this Panthers group.

This feels like the classic situation of two teams currently riding with different energy and headed in different directions to start the season. So let's give 'er with that angle and the Panthers on the moneyline for my Gold Pick of the evening.

Silver Selection

Carolina Hurricanes @ Colorado Avalanche – Pick: Avalanche ML (-144)

The Colorado Avalanche have allowed only four goals in four games while holding their opponents to zero goals on the man advantage so far this season. That's impressive stuff from a team that I personally feel deserves to be the early favorite for the Cup. I get it, we're only two weeks and five-or-so games deep, but this Avs group has all the makings of a club ready to go on a deep postseason run and if you haven't been paying attention, Alexandar Georgiev is very much for real.

Just a season ago Georgiev, very quietly, led the NHL in wins with an impressive 40 piece, and he's already on pace to repeat or even best last year's Vezina-level showing. A red-hot start of 4-0 to go along with a miniscule 0.98 goals-against average, and beastly .965 save percentage has Georgiev setting the tone early for what should be a very successful season for this Avalanche franchise.

No disrespect to another Cup contender in the Carolina Hurricanes, none at all, as this blue-line group in Carolina might only be rivaled by the unit on the other side of the ice in this matchup. However, the Hurricanes have only one win in their last five games against Colorado overall and only three victories on the road against the Avs over their last 17 trips to the Mile High City.

Carolina has been a bit of a Jekyll and Hyde scenario to start this season and the Avalanche have been arguably the most consistent, so I am riding with the Avs on the moneyline here to get it done on home ice against the Hurricanes once again.

Bronze Selection

Philadelphia Flyers @ Dallas Stars – Pick: Under 6.5 (-158)

Serious credit due to a really strong start and good all-around performance from this Philadelphia Flyers unit. Carter Hart is already feeling it, the key veteran returns and offensive output from Sean Couturier and Cam Atkinson, and a commitment to a full 200-foot game has the Flyers sitting in a tie for first in the Metro with the best goal differential in the division.

What's impressed me the most about Philly is its defensive play. Which was the first angle for me to lean toward the Under bet in this spot. The second one is the Dallas Stars are one of the stingiest defensive groups in the NHL anchored by one of my favorite goalies in the league in Jake Oettinger, another netminder kicking-off the season with strong play (2-0-1, 1.58 GAA, .943 SV%).

This one just feels like an Under. At first glance at the entire 15-game NHL betting board while doing research, this matchup is the one that jumped off the page for me in terms of an immediate lean to a total. Every single one of the Stars' games this season have stayed Under the number, and all but one game did the exact same in terms of Philadelphia's recent totals.

Need I say more? Let's hammer this number at 6.5 for fairly decent odds.

Side Bets

New York Islanders @ Buffalo Sabres – Pick: Islanders ML (+104)

Philadelphia Flyers @ Dallas Stars – Pick: Stars ML (-245)

Winnipeg Jets @ Edmonton Oilers – Pick: Over 6.5 (-134)

Flip Livingstone is an NHL betting and fantasy hockey writer and podcast host with experience at outlets such as theScore NHL, Narcity Media, Postmedia, and Hockey Night in Canada. You can follow him on X @Flips_Picks.