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The Boston Red Sox and Cincinnati Reds open their 2026 seasons Thursday afternoon at Great American Ball Park, with first pitch set for 4:10 p.m. ET. Boston hands the ball to Garrett Crochet, while Cincinnati counters with Andrew Abbott in a matchup of lefties. The market has Boston as a road favorite, generally around -156 to -158, with the total sitting between 8 and 8.5. That already frames the game pretty well: respect for the Red Sox ceiling, but enough caution around Great American Ball Park and both lineups to keep this from being priced like a pure pitchers’ duel. There is some real intrigue here beyond the opener label. Crochet is making his first Opening Day start for Boston

The Dallas Stars open a four-game road trip Thursday night at UBS Arena in Elmont, New York, and they need the reset. Dallas is 43-17-11 and already locked into the postseason, but this team has dropped three straight and looked loose defensively in a 6-4 loss to New Jersey on Tuesday. The Islanders are 40-27-5, still chasing a playoff spot in the East, and they come in off a 4-3 loss to Chicago that followed the same ugly script: early defensive breakdowns, a hole too deep to climb out of, and a late push that came up short. Puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m. ET on ESPN+, and the market has Dallas as a modest road favorite with a

The Minnesota Wild head to Amerant Bank Arena on Thursday night for a 7:00 p.m. ET matchup with the Florida Panthers, and the setup is pretty straightforward. Minnesota comes in at 40-20-12 and still looks like a dangerous Western Conference team even after blowing a 3-1 lead in Tuesday’s 6-3 loss at Tampa Bay. Florida is 35-32-3, sits 12 points out of the final Eastern Conference wild-card spot, and is running out of time with only a dozen games left. ESPN has the broadcast, and the market has Minnesota installed as a modest road favorite. That part matters because this is one of those spots where the records tell only part of the story. Minnesota is still playing for seeding

The Columbus Blue Jackets head to Bell Centre on Thursday night for a 7:00 p.m. ET matchup with the Montreal Canadiens in one of the tighter games on the NHL board. Columbus enters at 38-22-11 and has climbed to second place in the Metropolitan Division, while Montreal is 39-21-10 and sitting third in the Atlantic. ESPN+ carries the stream, and this feels like a real playoff-style game even before the postseason starts because the standings pressure is obvious on both sides. Columbus is still one of the hottest teams in the league since the coaching change in January, and the Blue Jackets have been stacking points with a style that travels well. Montreal has been almost as dangerous at home,