The 2026 Stanley Cup Final has arrived, with the Carolina Hurricanes hosting the Vegas Golden Knights for Game 1 on Tuesday night. Just in time for puck drop, DraftKings Sportsbook is back with its NHL Ice Breaker promotion for the first matchup of the Cup!
The promotion is simple. Just opt in to receive an Ice Breaker token and use it on any single NHL first goalscorer bet (minimum $5 wager). If that player scores the first goal of the game, you win a share of $500,000 in Bonus Bets!
Without further ado, here’s a look at two of the top picks for the Stanley Cup Game 1 Ice Breaker promo on DraftKings Sportsbook.
NHL Ice Breaker Picks for Stanley Cup Final Game 1
Andrei Svechnikov (+1200)
Based on the larger sample of the regular season, there’s no better bet for the first goal of the game than Andrei Svechnikov. The 26-year-old Hurricanes forward led the roster with 31 goals during the regular season and finished at a 15.3% clip on 203 shots on goal, third most of Carolina’s skaters. In particular, he excelled at putting the puck in the back of the net during the first frame. The Russian notched a grand total of 14 goals in the first period alone, which placed him sixth among all skaters across the entire NHL in the stat. To narrow it down further, seven of those came as the first goal of the game — tying him for the fourth-most of any skater across the league.
Why else are we riding with Svechnikov as a top Ice Breaker pick? Well, his 43 shots on goal during the Stanley Cup Playoffs rank second on the roster and average out to 3.3 per game. The shot volume looks fairly good, but more importantly, Svechnikov finally looks more like himself as of late. He went through a pretty lengthy drought of six games without a goal to begin the postseason before hitting his first in Game 3 of the second round. Since then, he’s notched at least three shots on goal in five-of-seven appearances and finally got going in the Eastern Conference Final with a pair of goals across Games 3 and 4.
Having broken his recent slump, there’s still room for positive regression on a 7.0% shooting percentage and he was a first-period warrior in the regular season. At +1200 odds, he’s the shortest bet in this long-shot market.
Mitch Marner (+1500)
The odds aren’t significantly longer on Mitch Marner to be the game’s first goalscorer, however, he’s just as compelling of an option for the Ice Breaker promo. The first season of his career with the Golden Knights has been nothing short of a tremendous success, to put it lightly. The star is now playing for the Cup for the first time, finished second on the team with 80 points in the regular season, and has caught fire in the postseason. Marner’s 21 points are the most of any NHL skater in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, making him the favorite to win the Conn Smythe Trophy at the moment.
More importantly for this pick, Marner’s seven goals in the playoffs are good for second on the Vegas roster. Three of those came in one game as he notched a natural hat trick in the second round, but he’s remained a real scoring threat even if he hasn’t put one in the back of the net over the last four games. If anything, going goalless in the Western Conference Final may mean Marner is due. While he scored the first goal of a game only once in the regular season, he does have the third-most shots on goal for the Golden Knights with 39 this postseason, an average of 2.43 per contest. He also had at least two shots in every game last round and sees a ton of time on ice to begin with.
At some point, Marner is bound to light the lamp again. Tuesday night is a great time for him to get back on the board since he’s played postseason hero so far — especially with Jack Eichel’s goalscoring drying up in these Stanley Cup Playoffs.
How to Play NHL Ice Breaker
- Opt in to receive your single-use qualifying bet token on the promotions page
- Place a single $5 bet on any first goalscorer prop bet
- If the player you bet on scores the first goal, you will win a share of $500,000 in bonus bets (the less popular the player, the higher the payout!)
For more information on this promo, click here!
