After rolling to a victory over the Washington Capitals in the opener of the Stanley Cup final on Monday night the Vegas Golden Knights will be looking to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series on Wednesday night as Game 2 betting favourites at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
Vegas sits as a -155 betting favourite on the NHL odds at the sportsbooks for Game 2, after picking up a 6-4 win as -152 home favourites in Game 1 on Monday night. That result improved the Golden Knights to 3-0 all-time against the Capitals, who they defeated in both regular season meetings this past season.
Monday’s matchup saw Colin Miller open the scoring for Vegas seven minutes into the first period, before Brett Connolly and Nicklas Backstrom put Washington ahead midway through the frame. William Karlsson tied it up for the Golden Knights late in the first period.
Reilly Smith and John Carlson then exchanged goals in the second period, and Tom Wilson put the Capitals up 4-3 a minute into the third period. It was all Golden Knights from there, however, as Ryan Reaves and Tomas Nosek staked Vegas to a 5-4 lead, and Nosek added an empty-net marker with three seconds left on the clock for good measure.
Neither netminder was a standout in Game 1, as the Capitals’ Braden Holtby allowed five goals on 33 shots, and the Golden Knights’ Marc-Andre Fleury gave up four goals on 28 shots. That turned the game into an easy OVER result for totals bettors on the posted OVER/UNDER of 5.5 goals.
Monday’s result gave the Golden Knights a further boost on the odds to win the Stanley Cup, where they now sit as -250 betting favourites. Washington’s Game 1 loss has them back as +210 underdogs to win the Stanley Cup for the first time in franchise history.
Vegas is now 13-3 overall in the playoffs, needing just 15 games to dispatch the Los Angeles Kings, San Jose Sharks, and Winnipeg Jets. Washington is 12-8 overall this postseason.
And the Golden Knights are also 7-1 at home so far this postseason, according to the OddsShark NHL Database, with their lone defeat at T-Mobile Arena a 4-3 loss to the Sharks in double overtime in the second game of the second round. The Capitals are 8-3 on the road during these playoffs after Monday’s setback.
The puck drops on Game 2 of the series at 8:00pm ET on Wednesday night. The Stanley Cup final then returns east for Games 3 and 4 in Washington on Saturday night and Monday night.
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