Following a brief holiday-period pause, the NHL resumed action on Tuesday. Normal service hasn’t quite resumed just yet, but last night was the first day without a single postponed game on the schedule since December 17. But while many teams are back in action, the Stanley Cup favorites are not in that group.
When the Colorado Avalanche host the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday–if there are no issues between now and then–it will be their first game since December 16. Since then, the Avs have lost seven games to postponement. Two were lost prior to the NHL’s week-long break, three were during the break, and a home-and-home with the Dallas Stars, which was scheduled for Wednesday and today, was also postponed.
It will be interesting to see how much rust there will be for the Avalanche when they finally get back in action, but they have a tough matchup right out of the gate against Anaheim, who is a surprising second in the Pacific Division. The Ducks entered the season with some of the longest Stanley Cup odds in the league, and only the Arizona Coyotes, Buffalo Sabres, and New York Islanders had lower set point totals.
But entering tonight’s game against the Vegas Golden Knights, the Ducks are only one point behind the Golden Knights atop the Pacific. Their early success hasn’t exactly swayed the oddsmakers, however, as they still have only the 18th-best Stanley Cup odds.
Panthers Light Up Lightning for Nine in Clash of Contenders
The highlight of Thursday’s seven-game NHL slate was a Sunshine State showdown in Sunrise between the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning, two of the top four Stanley Cup favorites.
But instead of a tight tilt like the overtime game that they played when they last met in November, the Panthers won all three periods on the way to a resounding 9-3 win at home. The Panthers have been dominant at FLA Live Arena all season, and last night’s win took them to 16-3-0 at home for the season. By comparison, they are only 4-4-4 on the road. If the Panthers are to win their first Stanley Cup title this season, home ice advantage would be a very valuable asset in the postseason.
While it was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad game for the Lightning, it doesn’t mean that there is any reason to be concerned about the two-time defending champions. The Lightning, who are looking to become the first team in four decades to win three or more NHL titles in a row, lost for only the second time in 11 games last night. It’s fair to assume that everything will be just fine in Tampa.
Here’s a look at the latest odds, provided by BetMGM.
Odds to Win the Stanley Cup
- Colorado Avalanche +550
- Vegas Golden Knights +800
- Tampa Bay Lightning +850
- Florida Panthers +900
- Toronto Maple Leafs +900
- Carolina Hurricanes +1400
- Minnesota Wild +1600
- Washington Capitals +1600
- Boston Bruins +2000
- Pittsburgh Penguins +2000
- Calgary Flames +2200
- Edmonton Oilers +2200
- New York Rangers +2200
- St. Louis Blues +2500
- Dallas Stars +3500
- Nashville Predators +4000
- Winnipeg Jets +4000
- Anaheim Ducks +5000
- New York Islanders +6600
- Columbus Blue Jackets +10000
- Detroit Red Wings +10000
- Los Angeles Kings +10000
- Philadelphia Flyers +10000
- San Jose Sharks +10000
- New Jersey Devils +15000
- Vancouver Canucks +15000
- Chicago Blackhawks +20000
- Seattle Kraken +20000
- Buffalo Sabres +30000
- Montreal Canadiens +30000
- Ottawa Senators +30000
- Arizona Coyotes +100000
