The 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs are kicking off on Saturday with two Western Conference first-round games. One of these games features a surprising matchup: the St. Louis Blues, as a wild-card team, are visiting the Winnipeg Jets, who won the Presidents` Trophy. The Blues had an impressive 12-game winning streak and earned points in 14 of their last 16 regular-season games (13 wins, 2 losses, 1 overtime loss) to climb up and grab the second wild-card spot in the West.

The Dallas Stars are hosting the Colorado Avalanche in the other Saturday game. These Central Division rivals previously clashed in the second round last postseason, where the Stars eliminated the Avalanche in six games.

Three more first-round series will begin on Sunday, and two more on Monday. Then, on Tuesday, the current Stanley Cup champions, the Florida Panthers, will start defending their title against the Tampa Bay Lightning on the road. This is the second year in a row that the `Battle of Florida` is happening in the first round, with the Panthers winning against the Lightning in five games last year.

Another familiar series is in the West, between the Los Angeles Kings and the Edmonton Oilers. These Pacific Division teams, starting their series in Los Angeles on Monday, are actually facing each other in the first round for the fourth consecutive postseason. Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals will host the Montreal Canadiens for Game 1 of their series.

The other Western Conference series is between the Minnesota Wild and the Vegas Golden Knights, starting Sunday in Las Vegas. Also on Sunday, the New Jersey Devils will play against the Carolina Hurricanes in Carolina, and the `Battle of Ontario` will start in Toronto with the Maple Leafs hosting the Ottawa Senators.

Winnipeg and Vegas are considered strong favorites to win their series in the West. The Jets have betting odds around -210, and the Golden Knights are at -235 or higher at most betting sites. Oddsmakers also believe that three of the four Eastern Conference series are heavily skewed, with Carolina, Washington, and Toronto being strong favorites to win. Some betting sites list the Hurricanes at -300 or higher, while the Capitals` odds are around -275.

Here are some teams that might be worth considering for bets on first-round series victories.

Best Bets

Dallas Stars (+140)

The Stars have lost four out of six postseason games against the Avalanche and had a 1-1-1 record in the 2024-25 regular-season series. However, Dallas has a better goalie in Jake Oettinger, who was third in the NHL with 36 wins and is a potential candidate for the Vezina Trophy. They also have former Avalanche player Mikko Rantanen, a 28-year-old right wing who scored 30 or more goals for the fifth season in a row, even after playing for three different teams this season. Jason Robertson, Dallas`s top scorer this season with 35 goals, injured his knee in the last regular-season game and might miss the series. But the Stars still have Wyatt Johnston (career-high 33 goals) and Matt Duchene (30), who played his first eight seasons in the NHL with Colorado. Roope Hintz (28), Mason Marchment (22), Mikael Granlund (22), and Evgenii Dadonov (20) are also capable of scoring against Avalanche goalie Mackenzie Blackwood and helping Dallas advance to the second round.

Los Angeles Kings (+115)

The Kings haven`t had much success against the Oilers in the playoffs, losing eight of their ten previous series, including the last six. In the past three postseasons, Los Angeles was defeated by Edmonton in seven, six, and five games respectively. However, this time, the Kings have home-ice advantage and were the best home team in the NHL in 2024-25, with a record of 31-5-4 at home. Los Angeles also has a significant advantage in goal with Darcy Kuemper, who helped Colorado win the championship in 2022 and was among the top goalies this season in goals-against average (2.02, second), save percentage (.922, third), and shutouts (five). Even though the Oilers have a dangerous duo in Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl and were close to winning the Stanley Cup last year, this might be the year the Kings break their losing streak against their division rivals.

Tampa Bay Lightning (-102)

Even though Sergei Bobrovsky outperformed Andrei Vasilevskiy in their last postseason matchup, it`s hard to bet against a Tampa Bay team that has two 40-goal scorers in Brayden Point (42) and Jake Guentzel (career-high 41). The Lightning also have Nikita Kucherov (121 points), who won his second straight and third overall Art Ross Trophy this season and led the NHL in playoff scoring in both 2020 (34 points) and 2021 (32). Additionally, Brandon Hagel (35) and Anthony Cirelli (27) both set career highs in goals in 2024-25. While the Panthers are the defending champions and expect Matthew Tkachuk to return for this series, he has been recovering from a lower-body injury since February and might not be in top form to help Florida beat the strong Lightning team.