With so many unknowns at the beginning of the season, hockey betting in October can be a bit of a crapshoot.

But if you can anticipate which teams might start strong and which clubs might struggle early on, it can also be a cash cow.

Last year, for example, no one expected the Avalanche to come out of the gate with a 10-2-2 record in the opening month. Colorado made bettors a lot of money during that stretch, especially considering it was an underdog in 13 of those contests.

We took a look back over the past five years to see if any teams tend to start quickly, and a couple squads emerged.

The Buffalo Sabres have been October’s best team during that time. Last year, the Sabres went 8-2-1 in the opening month, while they went 6-2-2 the year before. And in 2006, Buffalo got off to a 10-0-1 start. Lindy Ruff has been the Buffalo coach in all five of those seasons.

And the Montreal Canadiens’ 7-7 start last year was out of character for the Habs in previous Octobers. From 2005-08, Montreal posted a 27-8-8 in the opening month.

It’ll be interesting to see if these trends continue this fall.

Montreal is listed as a +130 underdog at the Toronto Maple Leafs Thursday night, while Buffalo pays +120 at the Ottawa Senators Friday.