We’re down to the final four teams remaining in the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs after the New York Rangers eliminated the Carolina Hurricanes in Monday’s Game 7, and hockey fans don’t have much time to reset before entering conference final mode.
The Western Conference Final gets underway Tuesday with Game 1 puck drop between the Colorado Avalanche and Edmonton Oilers set for 8:00 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on Sportsnet. The Rangers will welcome the back-to-back defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning to Madison Square Garden when Eastern Conference Final begins Wednesday.
The opening month of the post-season has been intensely competitive and highly entertaining with many of the sport’s top young stars showing out when the games matter most.
There have been a few notable betting trends from the past 30 days to keep in mind during the conference finals should you choose to place any wagers.
For one, perhaps unsurprisingly, favourites and home teams have performed rather well thus far in the post-season. Home teams have won just shy of 61 per cent of games, while the listed moneyline favourite wins more than 67 per cent of the time. Road favourites are a rare sight in the playoffs but away team are 11-6 when the chalk.
Favourites haven’t fared quite as well on the puckline, though, with home teams just 38-36 and listed favourites 33-41.
Goals have been plentiful these playoffs with the over hitting in close to 57 per cent of games over the past month.
Bettors will have anywhere from eight to 14 individual games on which to bet during the conference finals, depending on how long each series goes, and there is still time to capitalize on the futures market prior to the start of each series.
With that in mind, here’s an updated look at some key playoff betting odds.
STANLEY CUP FUTURES
The Avalanche are the odds-on favourites to hoist the Stanley Cup, which has remained the case from the moment the regular season ended. Colorado (+105) is followed by Tampa Bay (+220), Edmonton (+600) then New York (+625).
The Oilers and Rangers are the surprise teams of the post-season. Jay Woodcroft’s and Gerard Gallant’s clubs each had +1800 Stanley Cup odds at the beginning of the playoffs and both have benefited from their top stars coming through in the clutch.
Colorado was tested by St. Louis after breezing past Nashville in the opening round. Tampa is the most rested team following an impressive sweep of state rival Florida.
The Avalanche hadn’t advanced to the conference finals since 2002 and the Oilers hadn’t since 2006. New York has now reached the conference finals four times in the past decade and Tampa has done it five times during that same stretch.
CONN SMYTHE FUTURES
It’s not surprising to see Colorado’s top performers leading the charge in the Conn Smythe race considering how big a favourite they are to advance to the Stanley Cup Final. If they get upset by Edmonton, however, whoever has futures bets on Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl will be sitting pretty.
The Oilers superstars, each with a whopping 26 points through 12 playoff games, entered the post-season with long +3000 Conn Smythe odds yet the pair have been putting up numbers not seen in decades.
One surprising stat to note about the NHL’s playoff MVP: the leading playoff point producer has failed to win the Conn Smythe Trophy in 12 consecutive seasons. Evgeni Malkin in 2009 was the last player to lead the playoffs in scoring and receive Conn Smythe honours.
The Conn Smythe winner has been on the Cup-winning team every year since 2003.
Andrei Vasilevskiy’s Conn Smythe odds fell from +1800 at the start of Round 2 to +500 entering the Eastern Conference Final following a remarkable performance against the Panthers in which Vasilevskiy allowed only three total goals. The reigning Conn Smythe recipient and his teammate Victor Hedman, who won it in 2020, are the only past Conn Smythe winners still alive in the 2022 playoffs.
Nikita Kucherov led the playoffs in points in each of the past two years but his career trophy case is still missing the Conn Smythe.
SERIES WINNER & CORRECT RESULT ODDS
Predicting the correct team to win a series is great. Getting the exact number of games correct can mean a significant boost in value.
Oddsmakers are projecting the Avalanche and Lightning will battle it out for the Stanley Cup and based on the numbers they expect Tampa’s road to the championship to be slightly more difficult than Colorado’s.
COLORADO AVALANCHE (-260) vs. EDMONTON OILERS (+215)
Something to keep in mind: Two of the three regular-season meetings between these teams were low-scoring contests that required extra time. Does that mean fans should temper expectations when it comes to offence in this series? Not likely! These two teams have scored more goals than all other clubs these playoffs so be mindful of overs. Four of Edmonton’s five games against Calgary went over; Colorado overs went 3-3 against St. Louis with at least five goals scored in all six games.
Series handicap: Colorado -1.5 (-120) | Edmonton +1.5 (-120)
Best odds: Avalanche to win in five games (+320)
TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING (-180) vs. NEW YORK RANGERS (+160)
Something to keep in mind: Overs are in the spotlight in the West; same goes for unders in the East. This series could ultimately come down to which Russian netminder performs better. Vasilevskiy has earned the reputation as the NHL’s most clutch goalie and Igor Shesterkin has been the most consistent performer between the pipes all throughout 2021-22. Five of the Rangers past seven games have seen five or fewer total goals scored.
Series handicap: Lightning -1.5 (+115) | Rangers +1.5 (-155)
Best odds: Lightning to win in seven games (+375)
(All betting odds listed above are via Bet365 as of Tuesday morning)
