Will Jonathan Marchessault and the Las Vegas Golden Knights live up to their billing as the prohibitive favorites to win the Western Conference? Could the Knights fall prey to the explosive Colorado Avalanche? Could either top contender be overtaken for conference supremacy by an inconsistent, but talented Dallas Stars squad? Could the defending Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues get their act together to win back-to-back Western Conference titles or will Vancouver or Calgary have something to say about who wins the west?
If you’re looking to cash in on the value-packed NHL odds to win the Western Conference, then let’s find out what likely lies ahead for every team remaining in the western conference playoffs. Keep in mind, this year, the NHL opted for a new format in the pandemic-shortened bubble season. Each side of the bracket will be re-seeded after the culmination of the first round series with the highest seed remaining playing the lowest remaining seed. Let’s get right into actions so you can make your bets against their NHL odds.
NHL Betting Picks – Odds To Win Western Conference Take Center Stage!
Las Vegas Golden Knights +155
Vegas heads into the next round coming off an emphatic 4-1 series win over Chicago in the first round. The Knights took command of the series by jumping out to a 3-0 lead by scoring four goals in Games 1 and 2 while limiting the Blackhawks to a single goal in Games 1 and 3. Vegas is spreading the puck around nicely with four players scoring four goals, (Mark Stone, Shea Theodore and Alex Tuch) and Reilly Smith adding three goals.
Colorado Avalanche +175
Colorado dispatched Arizona in five quick games and will hit the next round high after stunning the Coyotes with consecutive 7-1 smackdown wins in Games 4 and 5 on Monday and Wednesday. Avs center Nazem Kadri is tied for the postseason lead with six goals while fellow center Nathan MacKinnon has scored four goals and leads all players with a postseason-high of 13 points. Right-winger Mikko Rantanen has added three goals and seven assists. More importantly, goalie Pavel Francouz has been lights out in leading all net-minders in both, goals-against- average (1.02) and save percentage (.958). Oh and fellow goalie Phillip Grubauer is fourth in GAA (1.49) Colorado will take on Dallas in the second round. Despite losing five straight against Dallas this season, the Avalanche can take comfort in the fact that they recorded a 4-0 win the last time they met on Aug. 5.
Dallas Stars +700
The Stars knocked off the Calgary Flames in six games by recording a stunning 7-3 win on Thursday night. Superstar center Joe Pavelski and Right-winger Denis Gurianov are both tied for the playoff lead with six goals. The Stars scored at least five goals three times in the opening round and they have the kind of offensive firepower capable of beating anyone. Still, as they get set to take on Colorado, let it be known that they also allowed four goals twice and that just doesn’t bode well as they get set to face the Avalanche in the next round. The good news is that Dallas has beaten Colorado five times in six meetings this season.
Vancouver Canucks +750
The Canucks are up 3-2 on the defending champs as they get set for Friday night’s Game 6 showdown. Vancouver has scored at least four goals three times so far while putting five goals on the board in their series-opening win. Center Bo Horvat is tied for the playoff lead with six goals while center J.T. Miller has added five playoff goals. 2019 Calder Cup-winning center Elias Pettersson has added four goals and seven assists.
St. Louis Blues +1000
St. Louis is in a 3-2 hole heading into Friday night’s do-or-die Game 6 clash. Left-winger David Perron has scored a team-high four goals while dishing out eight assists while center Ryan O’Reilly has added four goals and six assists. Outside of those two, the Blues haven’t gotten any outstanding performances, though they’ve been solid in eking out narrow wins in Games 3 and 4. St. Louis has scored an identical three goals in four straight games heading into Game 6 and looks a bit too offensively-challenged to go back-to-back this year in my opinion.
Conference Prediction
While I really like the way that Colorado is playing right now, I believe they’re going to have their hands completely full with Dallas in the next round. While I’m also expecting Vancouver to bounce St. Louis out of the postseason, I just don’t see the Canucks, as dangerous as they are offensively, getting past a locked-in Golden Knights squad.
Hell, for that matter, I just don’t see anyone beating Vegas out west. The Knights have some excellent goalies in Robin Lehner and veteran Marc Andre-Fleury and they spread the wealth around offensively as well as anyone. The Knights have both, capable goal scorers and one of the best passers in the game today in Jonathan Marchessault. I’ve been backing Vegas since before the start of the playoffs and the Knights are still my pick to get it done. I’m going with Colorado as my No. 2 pick with Dallas, my No. 3 pick to come out of the west.
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