{"id":475318,"date":"2025-10-07T07:30:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-07T11:30:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=475318"},"modified":"2025-10-07T21:55:44","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T01:55:44","slug":"nhl-predictions-oct-7-chicago-blackhawks-vs-florida-panthers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2025\/10\/07\/nhl-predictions-oct-7-chicago-blackhawks-vs-florida-panthers\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL Predictions: Oct. 7 Chicago Blackhawks vs Florida Panthers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome back to another NHL Predictions. Each day, our writers here at Last Word on Hockey<\/em>\u00a0look at the games and give in-depth analysis. Our team breaks down the key matchups, storylines, and stats, then makes predictions based on how they might play out. For this edition, we will look at the\u00a0Chicago Blackhawks<\/a> taking on the Florida Panthers<\/a>.\u00a0Don\u2019t forget to check out more\u00a0NHL Predictions<\/a>, as our writers continue this series throughout the 2025-26 season.<\/p>\n

NHL Predictions<\/h2>\n

Chicago Blackhawks vs Florida Panthers<\/h3>\n

2024-25 Season Series: Blackhawks 1-1 Panthers<\/h4>\n

Time:<\/strong> 5:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time<\/p>\n

TV:<\/strong> ESPN; SN1<\/p>\n

We start off the 2025-26 season on NHL predictions with the Panthers trying to get their quest for a third consecutive Stanley Cup<\/a> off right. However, Connor Bedard<\/a> and the Blackhawks are going to try and ruin that.\u00a0\u00a0Chicago is looking to finally reap some of the harvest from its tough rebuild. Bedard led the team in points with 67, but is hoping to get more production. Ryan Donato<\/a> parlayed his 31-goal season into a new contract.<\/p>\n

Spencer Knight<\/a> is slated to get the start in the crease, but always check social media before locking in a daily fantasy starter. Knight wrested the top spot in goal for the Blackhawks and is hoping to live up to his own contract extension.<\/p>\n

Florida comes in as the defending champions, but is banged up to start the season. Matthew Tkachuk<\/a> will miss at least the first couple of months of the season. However, Aleksander Barkov<\/a> is feared lost for the entire season. Despite this, the Panthers still have plenty of depth.<\/p>\n

Sergei Bobrovsky<\/a> is likely to get the call again in the blue paint for Florida.<\/p>\n

Florida does come in with plenty of injuries, but should open the season with a banner-raising and a win.<\/p>\n

Prediction: Panthers win 4-2.<\/em><\/p>\n

Colorado Avalanche vs Los Angeles Kings<\/h3>\n

2024-25 Season Series: Avalanche 2-1 Kings<\/h4>\n

Time:<\/strong> 10:30 p.m. Eastern Time<\/p>\n

TV:<\/strong> ESPN; SN1<\/p>\n

Our second and last game<\/a> of NHL Predictions has the Los Angeles Kings<\/a> hosting the Colorado Avalanche<\/a>. Both teams are coming off disappointing first-round exits from the Stanley Cup Playoffs. However, both clubs are looking for more.<\/p>\n

Colorado might go off the board with Scott Wedgewood<\/a> as the team’s starter in the opener. However, we could still see Mackenzie Blackwood<\/a> get the call.<\/p>\n

The Avs will have Gabriel Landeskog<\/a> back for the regular season game for the first time in a while. Nathan MacKinnon<\/a> finished last season with 116 points, while Cale Makar<\/a> totaled 92 on his way to winning the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s top defenceman. However, the rest of the lineup is going to have to step up if Colorado wants to make a deep run.<\/p>\n

Darcy Kuemper<\/a> is the probable starter for Los Angeles and is hoping to build off a solid season in Southern California. Kuemper was a reason the Kings made another postseason appearance.<\/p>\n

Adrian Kempe<\/a> is heading into a contract year and is looking to put up numbers similar to or better than his team-leading 35 goals and 73 points. Anze Kopitar<\/a> is looking to cap his illustrious career with another Stanley Cup in his final season.<\/p>\n

This should be a good one to close out opening night. However, Colorado should start the season with a close victory.<\/p>\n

Prediction: Avalanche win 3-2.<\/em><\/p>\n

Prop Bets of the Night<\/h3>\n

We round out NHL predictions with our prop bets of the night. Let’s head back to our featured game for some of our preferred props. For Chicago, take Bedard to score in the opening game. On the Florida end, go with Sam Bennett<\/a> to tally for the defending champions.<\/p>\n

Stick with our NHL predictions for the entire 2025-26 season.<\/p>\n

Main photo by: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome back to another NHL Predictions. Each day, our writers here at Last Word on Hockey\u00a0look at the games and give in-depth analysis. Our team breaks down the key matchups, storylines, and stats, then makes predictions based on how they might play out. For this edition, we will look at the\u00a0Chicago Blackhawks taking on the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2352,"featured_media":470764,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6,27,4547,34,4548,4524],"tags":[6233,6085,6255,6028],"class_list":["post-475318","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-panthers","category-blackhawks","category-hockey","category-news","category-nhl","category-nhl-predictions","tag-chicago-blackhawks-predictions","tag-colorado-avalanche-predictions","tag-florida-panthers-predictions","tag-los-angeles-kings-predictions"],"modified_by":"Dan Mount, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475318","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2352"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=475318"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475318\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":475368,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475318\/revisions\/475368"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/470764"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=475318"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=475318"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=475318"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}