NHL Conference Finals Series Betting Previews, Odds, Picks, Stanley Cup Futures
We are down to the final four in the NHL Playoffs, and not many experts had the final grouping of Tampa Bay, Colorado, Edmonton and New York before the season started. The third round of the NHL Playoffs commences later tonight, and oddsmakers at SI Sportsbook have released series odds for both matchups and updated futures markets in the 2022 quest to hoist the Stanley Cup.
In our first-round NHL betting preview, the respected money from Las Vegas won all of their wagers, backing three underdogs. However, in the second round, our series parlay was unable to get home after both Tampa Bay and Edmonton upset Florida and Calgary.
Let’s dive in and take a deeper look at the Conference Finals matchups and see where the early respected money in Vegas has arrived!
UPDATED ODDS TO WIN 2022 STANLEY CUP
• Colorado +120
• Tampa Bay +220
• NY Rangers +520
• Edmonton +600
Eastern Conference Finals Series Betting Odds
No. 2 New York Rangers (+150) vs. No. 3 Tampa Bay Lightning (-225)
HEAD-to-HEAD Regular Season: New York 3-0
Don’t look now, but the defending Stanley Cup Champions have emerged as the team to beat once again. With its experience and championship pedigree, Tampa Bay looked phenomenal in its four-game sweep of the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Florida Panthers in the second round. The Lightning (-225), in search of a Stanley Cup three-peat, will have nine days of rest before taking part in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Rangers (+150). Nikita Kucherov (4 goals, 11 assists; 15 points) and Steven Stamkos (4 goals, 4 assists; 8 points) were outstanding against the Panthers, combining for 11 points in the four games.
, who tied for the league lead in wins (39) in the regular season, was superb in between the pipes for the Lightning posting a 4-0 record with a 1.33 GAA after stopping 151 of 154 shots against a Florida squad that led the NHL in scoring in the regular season. Overall, the two-time Stanley Cup Champion has compiled a remarkable 42-17 record with a 2.01 GAA with seven shutouts over the last three postseasons.
The New York Rangers are in the Eastern Conference Finals for the first since 2015 after moving past the Carolina Hurricanes in a hard-fought seven-game series. Igor Shesterkin, who was the best goalie in the NHL in the regular season, has lived up to the hype in the playoffs. In the second round against the Hurricanes, Shesterkin shined with a 1.73 GAA and .948 save percentage in helping the Rangers to come back from a two-game to none deficit followed by a 3-2 hole after five games. This postseason, the incredibly talented netminder is now 5-0 in elimination games for the Rangers while compiling an 8-5 record with a 2.68 GAA in 14 games.
Andrei Vasilevskiy, who tied for the league lead in wins (39) in the regular season, was superb in between the pipes for the Lightning posting a 4-0 record with a 1.33 GAA after stopping 151 of 154 shots against a Florida squad that led the NHL in scoring in the regular season. Overall, the two-time Stanley Cup Champion has compiled a remarkable 42-17 record with a 2.01 GAA with seven shutouts over the last three postseasons.
The New York Rangers are in the Eastern Conference Finals for the first since 2015 after moving past the Carolina Hurricanes in a hard-fought seven-game series. Igor Shesterkin, who was the best goalie in the NHL in the regular season, has lived up to the hype in the playoffs. In the second round against the Hurricanes, Shesterkin shined with a 1.73 GAA and .948 save percentage in helping the Rangers to come back from a two-game to none deficit followed by a 3-2 hole after five games. This postseason, the incredibly talented netminder is now 5-0 in elimination games for the Rangers while compiling an 8-5 record with a 2.68 GAA in 14 games.
The Rangers' big four of Chris Kreider, Artemi Panarin, Mika Zibanejad and Adam Fox are a huge reason why New York is bringing the Eastern Conference Finals back to the World's Most Famous Arena on Wednesday night. Zibanejad leads the team with 7 goals and 12 assists (19 points), while Fox has been arguably the best defenseman in the NHL playoffs with 5 goals and 13 assists (18 points). In Game 7 against Carolina, Kreider again stepped up for the Blueshirts scoring two goals in the team's 6-2 win on Monday night. The powerful forward now has the second-most goals of any player in NHL history in elimination games (15).
The young Rangers have a home-ice advantage in this series, and if Shesterkin can match Vasilevskiy, New York could be playing in the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since 2014.
Western Conference Finals Series Betting Odds
No. 1 Colorado Avalanche (-275) vs. No. 2 Edmonton Oilers (+188)
HEAD-to-HEAD Regular Season: Colorado 2-1
The Colorado Avalanche, who swept the Nashville Predators in the first round, needed just six games to advance past St. Louis in the second round. Oddsmakers at SI Sportsbook now have the Avalanche listed as prohibitive betting favorites (-275) against the upstart Edmonton Oilers (+188) in the Western Conference Finals.
Nathan MacKinnon is arguably the leader of the Avalanche and leads the team with eight goals in the playoffs. Mikko Rantanen, who led the club in goals (36) in the regular season, has struggled to find the scoring touch with just one goal in 10 games but has set up his teammates in many critical situations with an exceptional 10 assists. Colorado defenseman Cale Makar, who scored 28 goals while anchoring the blue line in the regular season, has continued his solid production on the offensive end in the playoffs, tied for the club lead in scoring (3 goals, 10 assists; 13 points).
Goalies Darcy Kuemper and Pavel Francouz were solid in net, each earning two wins while allowing just nine goals on 111 shots in the four-game sweep in the first round. However, in the second round against St. Louis, Kuemper (6-2, 2.44 GAA) took over exclusively in between the pipes and didn’t disappoint, posting a perfect 3-0 mark on the road in the series.
The clear Cinderella story of this year’s NHL playoffs is the Edmonton Oilers, who have upset both the Los Angeles Kings and the Calgary Flames to advance to the Western Conference Finals. The Oilers’ run is fueled by the NHL’s best player Connor McDavid who led the regular season in scoring (44 goals, 79 assists; 123 points) and has taken his game to another level in the playoffs. McDavid and Leon Drasisaitl have posted a league-best 26 points in 12 playoff games.
McDavid provided the heroics (12 points), including the game-winning overtime goal in the series-clinching game five, but it was Draisaitl who ‘quietly’ amassed 17 points in just five games against the Flames. Just how good is that? How do 3.4 points per game sound? Simply incredible. While McDavid and Draisaitl continue to fill up the stat sheet, veteran teammate Evander Kane quietly leads the club with 12 goals through the first two rounds.
Veteran goalkeeper Mike Smith who was part of the 9-6 drubbing in game one of the second series with the Flames, bounced back to play a pivotal role in the Battle of Alberta, winning four consecutive starts. Overall, Smith is 8-3 with a 2.70 GAA and two shutouts in 12 games, and Edmonton will need him to play at an elite level if they have any hopes of upsetting the powerful Avalanche.
NHL Conference Finals Series Bets
As we have shared here only at SI Betting, respected money from Las Vegas continues to make successful investments. However, in the second round, the wiseguy money in the desert came up short in their exotic wager and will now look to get back to their winning ways in the Conference Finals. Playing with house money, the respected money is once again backing both underdogs at healthy plus-odds. In doing so they get to support the best overall player in the league (McDavid) as well as the best goalie this season (Shesterkin) in the process.
Respected Money Conference Finals Series Plays
• BET: New York Rangers +150
• BET: Edmonton +188
Respected Money NHL Series Playoff Betting Recap
• Series Straight Bets: 3-0
• Exotic Series Parlay: 1-1
• Overall: +3.97 units
Frankie Taddeo is a successful high-stakes fantasy football player who created the first-ever DFS program ever offered in a Las Vegas sportsbook. Frankie is SI Betting's Senior Analyst and provides his significant experience and resources in the sports betting scene. You can follow Frankie on Twitter @Frankie_Fantasy for his latest betting and fantasy insights from Las Vegas.
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