Round 1 of the Stanley Cup playoffs often presents some of the best betting opportunities you can see during the season, as the market overreacts or overreacts what is seen in the first game.
More speculation and intestinal sensation are needed as you can’t learn much from statistics from just one or two games in the Best Seven Series.
But if you trust your instincts, you can beat the market on some great occasions.
Before you act on a Wednesday night, take a look at some spots worth considering.
HABS is worth a series bet with +400 odds
Game 1 between the Washington Capitals and the Montreal Canadiens was about Alex Ovechkin. The newly anointed goalscoring King has found the back of the net twice, including a game of overtime. It was a good story, but it wasn’t the most important one.
The Canadians are more than a series opener game, eliminating a 2-0 deficit and earning big performances in their playoff debuts from Knick Suzuki, Cole Kowfield and Sam Montenbealto.
If the Canadians can limit defensive mistakes, Washington has lost Aliacsei Protas for the time being and Martin Fehelvalley throughout the postseason.
The world of hockey (including myself) counted the Dallas stars in their top seven series against the Colorado Avalanche.
Dallas was slapped and entered the tournament on a 7-game slide, but the AVS looked like a juggernaut and was completely healthy.
However, the stars are nasty and have won splits in the first two games of the series.
And while that may not seem like a big deal as games 1 and 2 took place in Dallas, they bought more time to get their first defensive man, Milo Heskanen back into the lineup.
It is unclear whether, when, or when Heiskanen will play in this series, but he completely changes the dynamics of the Dallas Blue Line, giving him more than the puncher’s chance to advance.
The stars are still the underdogs to get out of this series, but they have proven they can skate in AVS with a drained lineup, and if they pull up the upset they might be rounded up to the top of the odds board.
In that case, you’re over the moon to get a ticket to Jake Ottinger and get a Comte Smythe at 50/1 odds.
Look at Oilers prices
In a few different ways, you can see Edmonton’s 6-5 defeat to Los Angeles in Game 1.
The pessimistic view is that it was another poor goaltending performance from a team that has been plagued by the contradictions of netmanding for many years.
The optimistic POV was that the Oilers could easily win this series with enough saves as they returned from four goals against the best defensive team in the playoffs.
Do you want to bet on the NHL?
I bet on the King to win this series in advance, but I know that the Oilers are the type of team that could erase a big deficit in the game.
Edmonton is currently 14/1 to win the Stanley Cup and if the Kings take Game 2, that price could be a Whopper.
At that point, the whole hockey world counts the Oilers, so it may be worth diving in.
Why trust New York Post Beds?
Michael Lubov is a patient and abundant islander fan, but is a long-time for-profit sports bettor with 10 years of experience in the gambling industry. He loves using game theory to help punters acquire a pool of brackets, find long shots, and learn how to win the market in mainstream and niche sports.
