Betting on Thin Ice: Odds for the Stanley Cup
The Pittsburgh Penguins are heavy favorites right now to win the Eastern Conference finals and repeat in the Stanley Cup.
The race for the Stanley Cup has been whittled to four teams.
The hunt for the Stanley Cup continues this week with the postseason semi-finals. In the Eastern Conference, there’s the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Ottawa Senators. In the West, the Anaheim Ducks and Nashville Predators. The Predators currently lead the series against the Ducks, 1-0 after winning game 1, 3-2. But as of this writing, the Ducks have a 4-3 lead going into the third period. Meanwhile, the Senators lead the Penguins 1-0 in the series. They play Monday night in Pittsburgh. With NHL futures in place, lets take a look at the betting lines for each matchup.
Betting Odds for the Eastern Conference Finals
After an unlikely seven game series in which the Penguins rallied past Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals, the Penguins are now the favorites to win the Eastern Conference finals against the Senators. The semi-finals culminated in the defending champion Penguins blanking the Capitals 2-0 on the road. Now, the odds are firmly in their favor to repeat as Stanley Cup champs.
Betting line: The Penguins opened as -214 favorites (wager $214 to win $100) against Canada’s last remaining contender; the total stands at 5.5 goals, according to sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark. Heading into game 2, the line is -190 with a total of 5 goals, after the Senators won in game 1.
Why the Penguins might fall: Ottawa has made it this far due in large part to the best player in the NHL, defenseman Erik Karlsson. In the previous series, Karlsson scored the game-winning goal in Game 6 on the road against the New York Rangers to advance. They haven’t been to the Stanley Cup in ten years, but they’re playing with the kind of moxie required of cup contenders. Despite playing with a foot injury, Karlsson might be one of the few defensemen capable of containing Sidney Crosby. If he’s up to the task, the Senators might just win this series.
That being said, Pittsburgh’s furious rally against Washington gives them the momentum they’ll need to repeat and pay on the given lines.
My guess: Penguins win in 6.
Betting Odds for the Western Conference Finals
The Nashville Predators are 9-2 through the first three rounds of the NHL playoffs, after winning the first game of their conference final series against the Anaheim Ducks. In the first round, the Predators swept the Chicago Blackhawks with a goal differential of 13-3. They followed that up with another strong performance against the St. Louis Blues in round 2. Much of the accolades go to Nashville goaltender Pekka Rinne who leads all goalies this postseason with a 1.37 goals-against average and a .951 save percentage. He’s been a brick wall thus far. And now he’s got Music City thinking about hoisting the Stanley Cup.
Betting line: The Ducks are current favorites to win the series, despite Nashville’s strong performance in the postseason. They were a -115 favorite to start the series off with a win. And now in game 2, they’re -134 favorites with a total of 5 goals.
Why the Predators’ success is going to continue: The Ducks are 19-4-3 over their last 26 games. But the Predators have one of the best blue lines in the league. With goaltender Rinne and the Nashville defense playing at such a high level, the Ducks might have a hard time scoring in this series. Led by defenseman P.K. Subban, the Preds D has the potential to shut down Ducks star Ryan Getzlaf. He and Ryan Kessler have been dominant down the middle and will be looking to continue their greatness in this series. But Nashville, despite being slated as underdogs, might have the stuff to stop Anaheim in their tracks.
My guess: Predators win in 7.
