Oddsmakers are siding with the New York Rangers on their Stanley Cup betting lines with the postseason set to get underway on Wednesday and Thursday this week.
Henrik Lundqvist and the Rangers are the 11/2 favourites on the odds to win the Stanley Cup at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com as they get set to take on Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins in their first-round playoff matchup. The Penguins, who floundered in the second half of the season, are back at 16/1 odds.
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That series gets underway on Thursday night at Madison Square Garden, with New York the -175 home favourite on the NHL betting lines for Game 1. The Rangers have been dominant against the Penguins over the last two seasons, winning six of their last seven matchups.
The other three openers on Thursday are Detroit at Tampa Bay, Minnesota at St. Louis, and Winnipeg at Anaheim, with the Jets the long shot team on the odds to win the Stanley Cup at the sportsbooks heading into the postseason. Winnipeg is back at 25/1 on those NHL futures, and they’ve been tagged with a loss in five of their last six games against Anaheim – who are at 9/1 on the Stanley Cup odds.
Wednesday’s schedule then features the other four Canadian teams that made the playoffs, with Montreal hosting Ottawa and Vancouver hosting Calgary in first-round matchups. The Canadiens have the best Stanley Cup odds out of that group at 9/1, with the Canucks at 16/1, the Senators at 18/1, and the Flames at 20/1.
Montreal is a -150 home favourite against Ottawa for Game 1 of their series at the Bell Centre on Wednesday night, but the Canadiens are riding a three-game losing skid against the Senators. Vancouver is then listed as a -145 home favourite against Calgary for their series opener, with the Flames beating the Canucks in their last two meetings.
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Rounding out the first-round series are the Islanders vs. the Capitals and the Blackhawks vs. the Predators, with Chicago joining St. Louis as the 8/1 second-favourites on the odds to win the Stanley Cup heading into the playoffs at the sportsbooks. Blackhawks star forward Patrick Kane is reportedly going to be ready to return from his broken clavicle for Wednesday.
The Blackhawks are also the 15/4 favourites on the odds to win the Western Conference this spring, with both the Ducks and the Blues at 4/1 on that futures list. The Rangers are the 9/4 favourites on the odds to win the Eastern Conference, with the Canadiens and the Lightning both at 9/2 odds.
