Canucks underdogs on Saturday NHL betting slate

Vancouver Canucks' Alexander Edler (23), Elias Pettersson (40) and Tanner Pearson (70) celebrate a goal agianst the Vegas Golden Knights during second period NHL Western Conference Stanley Cup playoff action. (Jason Franson/CP)

The Vancouver Canucks will be looking to record consecutive wins over the Vegas Golden Knights for the first time in 13 all-time meetings when they hit the ice on Saturday for Game 3 of their second-round series as +170 underdogs on the NHL odds at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.

Vancouver recorded its first-ever win in regulation over Vegas on Tuesday, a 5-2 victory that leaves the series deadlocked at one game apiece going into Saturday night’s matchup at Rogers Place.

After getting pulled late in a 5-0 loss in Game 1, Canucks goaltender Jacob Markstrom turned in a stellar performance in Game 2, turning aside 38 of the 40 shots he faced. While Markstrom’s heroics have played a huge role in getting Vancouver back into this series, the Canucks continue to be longshots to eventually knock off Vegas, sporting +290 odds on the NHL playoff series prices.

Listed as strong -200 favourites for Saturday, the Golden Knights have regularly outshot their opponents by wide margins so far in the postseason, tallying 39 or more shots in five of their past six outings. However, Vegas has managed to score two or fewer goals on three occasions during that stretch.

The Golden Knights’ offensive struggles have been reflected on the totals, with the UNDER going 4-3 over their past seven games at sports betting sites. Despite their inability at times to convert a relentless offensive assault into goals, the Golden Knights remain strong -380 favourites to eventually win this series, and also sit atop the Stanley Cup odds as +265 chalk.

Elsewhere on the Saturday NHL odds, the Tampa Bay Lightning will be looking to build on Wednesday’s 7-1 rout of the Boston Bruins when they return to action for Game 4 of their Eastern Conference series as slim -115 betting favourites.

After averaging just 2.70 goals per game through their first 10 playoff contests, the floodgates finally opened for the Lightning offense in Game 3 with their highest goal total since mid-January. Now poised to push Boston to the brink of elimination, Tampa Bay has vaulted to a -270 favourite on the NHL playoff series prices.

Pegged as -105 underdogs for Saturday afternoon, the Bruins have now lost six of 11 games this postseason. And with just three wins in their last 16 meetings with Tampa Bay, they have a mountain to climb to rebound as a +220 wager on the series prices.

And later on Saturday, the New York Islanders look to rebound from a 4-3 overtime loss in Game 2 as they battle the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 3 of their series as -115 favourites.

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