Let’s face it. Round one of this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs didn’t go exactly as the ‘experts’ predicted. Bettors who bet the dogs generally did well, especially those lucky few who bet the Columbus Blue Jackets to beat the league leading Tampa Bay Lightning. Even better if they picked Columbus to win in four.
So now the Blue Jackets will be in the playoffs for the very first time and face none other than the venerable Boston Bruins, who may be just a little tired after going the full seven games to finally defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs 5 to 1 and take the series.
The defending Stanley Cup Champion Washington Capitals also went the full seven games with the Carolina Hurricanes and then played out two overtime periods before the Hurricanes finally defeated the Capitals 4 to 3. So, once again we have the upstart Carolina team going up against the legendary New York Islanders who just swept the Penguins of Pittsburgh in four straight matches.
Over in the Western Division the Nashville Predators fell to the Dallas Stars after game six went into overtime in which Dallas prevailed. So the number one seeded Predators are eliminated and the Stars will go on to meet the St. Louis Blues who also battled a full six games with the Winnipeg Jets.
The Colorado Avalanche just barley sneaked into the Stanley Cup Playoffs this year and drew the Western Conference leading Calgary Flames for the first round of play. The Flames trounced Colorado in the first game 4 to 1, then however, the Avalanche won the next four games in a row to move on to round two. Bettors who picked that one did quite well.
In an evenly matched series between two of the strongest teams in professional ice hockey, the Vegas Golden Knights took the San Jose Sharks to a full seven hard fought games, the final two going into overtime, before finally conceding victory to the Sharks who will move on to face the over achieving Colorado Avalanche in round two.
And what a great bunch of matchups we have going for the second round. All are close with no runaway favorites showing. Good luck with this one!
The Blues of St. Louis are at -140 taking on the Dallas Stars. The Boston Bruins are at -135 against the Columbus Blue Jackets. The New York Islanders are listed at only -140 against the first time Carolina Hurricanes and the San Jose Sharks are also listed at -140 taking on the Colorado Avalanche.
So we are off on another seven game series to determine which four teams will advance to round three where the going gets even faster and harder than is already is. Gear Up & Enjoy!
