Welcome to the new hockey frontier.

The NHL drops the puck tonight on TNT with a high-profile doubleheader that'll serve as Games 1 and 2 of a planned 50-game telecast schedule for 2021-22 season.

One of the league's burgeoning rivalries is front and center in the opener, the New York Rangers versus the Washington Capitals in a 7:30 p.m. ET faceoff at Capital One Arena in downtown Washington, D.C.

The teams share space in the Eastern Conference's Metropolitan Division, and their enmity spiked last May when Capitals forward Tom Wilson punched then-Ranger Pavel Buchnevich and injured his MVP candidate teammate Artemi Panarin.

Wilson was fined $5,000, and the teams engaged in a full-on line brawl in the first period of a rematch two nights later, resulting in six misconduct penalties.

A day later, the Rangers were fined $250,000 for criticizing the punishment (or lack thereof) handed down to Wilson.

The nightcap takes the TNT cameras more than 1,600 miles due west for a 10 p.m. ET game that matches the Colorado Avalanche and the visiting Chicago Blackhawks at Ball Arena in Denver.

The Avalanche open the season among the favorites to win the Stanley Cup, while the Blackhawks are fully revamped after acquiring defenseman Seth Jones via trade from the Columbus Blue Jackets and reigning Vezina Trophy winner Marc-Andre Fleury in another deal with the Vegas Golden Knights.

The B/R hockey writing team took a comprehensive look at both matchups and sized up some of the more prominent betting options from the number-crunchers at DraftKings. Click through to get the pertinent information and perhaps uncover an opportunity or two to cash in on the action.

Rangers at Capitals, 7:30 P.M. ET on TNT

As mentioned earlier, the game's main storyline hinges on the Wilson incident and the physicality that followed. The opener will be the first time the teams have met since the line brawl at Madison Square Garden, which came just three days before the Rangers' season finale against the Boston Bruins.

New York spent the offseason getting rougher and tougher with the acquisitions of burly veterans Ryan Reaves and Jarred Tinordi. Reaves, a 225-pound winger, arrived through a trade with the Vegas Golden Knights in late July and signed a one-year extension with the team two days later.

That same week, Tinordi, a 6'6", 232-pound defenseman, signed as a free agent after splitting 2020-21 time with the Boston Bruins and Nashville Predators.

Both players have had physical encounters with Wilson in the past.

"That's what we signed them for," Rangers coach Gerard Gallant told Newsday. "That's what they came here for. They're good hockey players and two big, strong guys.

"I want teams to know they're playing the Rangers now. It's not the same team we've had in the past. We're a big, more physical team and you know, when you have to use it, use it."

On the Washington side, prolific sniper Alex Ovechkin may have to wait to rejoin his pursuit of Wayne Gretzky's all-time goal-scoring record thanks to an unspecified lower-body injury. Ovechkin, who's 164 goals shy of Gretzky's career mark of 894, took part in an optional Tuesday practice and is listed as day-to-day.

Definitely absent from the Capitals' lineup will be center Nicklas Backstrom, who was placed on long-term injured reserve with an ailing hip that was surgically repaired in 2015. The 33-year-old will miss at least the first 10 games of the regular season. 

He had 53 points in the 2020-21 regular season but only one assist in five playoff games.

Making the roster in Backstrom's absence is forward Connor McMichael, a first-round pick in 2019.

Blackhawks at Avalanche, 10 P.M. ET on TNT

These are not your father's Blackhawks.

In fact, they're not even your older brother or sister's Blackhawks.

The Chicago roster looks drastically different from its 2020-21 predecessor, thanks to the aforementioned arrivals of Jones from the Blue Jackets and Fleury from the Golden Knights.

Jones became available after letting Columbus management know that he was not interested in staying with the organization after the final year of his contract. So he was dealt to the Blackhawks on July 23 and officially signed an eight-year extension worth $76 million on July 28.

Now 27, Jones had five goals and 28 points for the Blue Jackets last season.

As for Fleury, his arrival was a little less expected.

A three-time Stanley Cup champion with the Pittsburgh Penguins, he became a foundational piece in Vegas after he was plucked by the Golden Knights in their expansion draft in 2017.

He helped the team reach the Cup final that season and experienced a resurgence last season, going 26-10 during the regular season with a 1.98 goals-against average and a .928 save percentage.

Those numbers were the best in his tenure with Vegas, which ended on July 27 when he was shuttled to Chicago in a salary cap-conscious deal for a minor league forward. It was initially unclear if he'd suit up for the Blackhawks, demand another trade or retire at age 36.

He announced on August 1 that he'd play for Chicago in the final year of a contract paying $7 million.

Another noteworthy "arrival" for the Blackhawks comes in the form of Jonathan Toews, who missed the entire 2020-21 season due to chronic immune response syndrome. He hasn't played since Aug. 18, 2020, when he scored in a 4-3 loss to Vegas in Game 5 of the opening round of the Western Conference playoffs.

"He does a lot of different things for us that we were missing last year, the faceoffs, the battles," coach Jeremy Colliton told reporters. "He's so good down low in the offensive zone, there's not many guys who are better, and it just adds a different dimension to our team."

Meanwhile, Colorado will be without a star of its own because of medical reasons.

Nathan MacKinnon will not play Wednesday after testing positive for COVID-19, though he is asymptomatic, according to general manager Joe Sakic.

The 26-year-old center was eighth in the league with 65 points in 48 games last season, then added 15 points in the playoffs before the Avs were eliminated by Vegas in the second round.

Fleury was 4-1 for the Golden Knights in that series, allowing 11 goals on 126 shots.

Betting Guide for Both Games

They're the first of 82 games for each of the teams.

So not a lot of context exists to help a would-be DraftKings profiteer get things accomplished.

But the vibe going into the 2021-22 season is that the youth-laden Rangers could be taking a step nearer to contender status, while the aging Capitals—particularly without Backstrom and perhaps without Ovechkin for the opener—may be watching their window get a little bit closer to closed.

With that in mind, expect a revved-up New York team to be ready to prosper, making a +110 moneyline effort to win worthwhile (bet $100 to win $110) alongside a +100 outlay on the goal total staying under six. 

We'll stay with the underdog mindset in the second game as well, with Fleury and the Blackhawks facing a Colorado team that'll be without its own perennial MVP candidate.

Chicago is a perfectly worthwhile +165 moneyline prospect to win outright, and the presence of Fleury and new Avalanche goalie Darcy Kuemper—not to mention MacKinnon's absence—ought to keep the goal total beneath 6.5 in this one as well.

Bet the under at +105 and count your cash.

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