NHL Conference Finals Betting Preview
The NHL’s conference final matchups have finally been set and the quest for this year’s Stanley Cup is down to just four teams with the two best-of-seven series kicking off this Saturday with Game 1 between Tampa Bay and Boston. These two teams are both well rested after cruising to the Eastern Conference Finals with four game sweeps in the semifinals. The Western Conference Finals get underway this Sunday with San Jose taking on Vancouver on short rest after extended series in the conference semis.
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The following is a preview of both series along with the current odds for each team to win this year’s title as provided by Bovada.com.
Eastern Conference Finals- Tampa Bay Lightning (7/2) vs. Boston Bruins (5/2)
Tampa Bay is the dark horse of the four after coming into the postseason as the fifth seed in the East and at 20/1 odds to win the Stanley Cup. The Lightning found themselves down 3-1 to Pittsburgh in the opening round, but rallied with three straight wins including a 1-0 thriller in Game 7 as a 115 road underdog.
Tampa’s conference semifinal series against top seeded Washington ended up being a surprising one-way affair after it completely outplayed the Capitals in a four-game sweep. The Lightning are 2-2 as a favorite in the postseason, but an impressive 6-1 as an underdog. They are averaging 3.46 goals a game and giving up just 2.18. The total is 6-3-2 in their 11 playoff games.
Boston, who opened the playoffs as 9/1 favorites also had its hands full in its first round matchup against Montreal. That series also went the distance as the Bruins needed a 4-3 victory in overtime in Game 7 as a 175 home favorite to advance. Three of the final four games were tied at the end of regulation with Boston winning all three in overtime.
The Bruins were able to exercise the demons of last season’s historic collapse to Philadelphia in the conference semifinals; blowing a 3-0 series lead with a four-game sweep of the Flyers this time around. Boston is 6-3 as a favorite in the playoffs and 2-0 as an underdog. It is averaging 3.36 goals a game while allowing just 2.18. The total is 6-5 in 11 postseason games.
This series should go the distance with two dominating goalies, but look for Tampa Bay’s Dwayne Roloson to outplay Boston’s Tim Thomas to come out on top in Game 7 on the road.
Western Conference Finals- San Jose Sharks (13/2) vs. Vancouver Canucks (7/4)
San Jose came into this year’s playoffs as the No.2 seed and a 15/2 favorite to win a Stanley Cup. A six-game series win over Los Angeles in the first round and a thrilling seven-game victory over Detroit to advance to the conference finals have finally exercised some of its past demons of early exits in the postseason. The key was winning all five games that went to overtime.
The Sharks are 7-3 as a favorite and 1-2 as an underdog in the playoffs. They are scoring 2.92 goals a game and amazingly enough giving up the exact same number on defense. The total is 6-6-1 in their 13 postseason games.
Vancouver was clearly the best team in the NHL in the regular season and came into the playoffs as the odds-on-favorite at 3/1 to win it all. It came very close to making an early exit in the playoffs after blowing a 3-0 lead to Chicago. The Canucks were able to save their season with a dramatic 2-1 overtime victory in Game 7 as a 165 home favorite.
The conference semifinals became a little too close for comfort after Nashville closed the gap to three games to two with a 4-3 win in Game 5. Vancouver quickly put the brakes on this slide with a 2-1 win as a 137 road favorite in Game 6. The Canucks are 7-4 as a favorite this postseason and 1-1 as an underdog. They are averaging just 2.31 goals in 13 playoff games, but only giving up an average of 2.54. The total is 5-6-2 in those 13 games.
Vancouver goalie Roberto Luongo continues his strong play and the Sedin brothers finally generate some more offense for the Canucks to end this series in six games.
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