{"id":83720,"date":"2020-08-22T16:31:56","date_gmt":"2020-08-22T20:31:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/?p=83720"},"modified":"2020-08-22T16:31:56","modified_gmt":"2020-08-22T20:31:56","slug":"western-conference-second-round-features-massive-betting-favourites","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2020\/08\/22\/western-conference-second-round-features-massive-betting-favourites\/","title":{"rendered":"Western Conference Second Round Features Massive Betting Favourites"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Second Round of Stanley Cup Playoffs gets underway tonight, and both Western Conference series&#8217; have some massive favourites in the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/nhl-teams\/knights\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Vegas Golden Knights<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/nhl-teams\/avalanche\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Colorado Avalanche<\/a>. Both took their first-round series&#8217; in five games and appear to be on a collision course to the Western Conference Finals.<\/p>\n<p>That&#8217;s unless the high-flying <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/nhl-teams\/canucks\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Vancouver Canucks<\/a>, or under-the-radar <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/nhl-teams\/stars\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dallas Stars<\/a> have anything to say about it. It&#8217;s been an NHL postseason filled with upsets, and it&#8217;s tough to believe at least one of these two underdogs won&#8217;t spoil the party.<\/p>\n<h2>Western Conference Second Round Betting Odds<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportsinteraction.com\/hockey\/futures-betting\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Odds Courtesy of SportsInteraction.com<\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Vancouver Canucks (6) vs Vegas Golden Knights (1)<\/h3>\n<blockquote class=\"imgur-embed-pub\" lang=\"en\" data-id=\"a\/nmodnFT\" data-context=\"false\"><p>&nbsp;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/s.imgur.com\/min\/embed.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>In unsurprising fashion, the Golden Knights advanced to the Second Round in five games. Vegas took it to the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/nhl-teams\/blackhawks\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Chicago Blackhawks<\/a> for pretty much the entire series, a series that should&#8217;ve been a sweep if not for an outstanding 48-save Game 4 from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/c\/crawfco01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Corey Crawford<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The Canucks, on the other hand, shocked most of the hockey world (<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/2020\/08\/11\/western-conference-first-round-vegas-golden-knights-favourite\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">but not me<\/a>). There will be a new Stanley Cup champion after Vancouver&#8217;s 4-2 series win over the reigning winners, the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/nhl-teams\/blues\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">St. Louis Blues<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Going into Game 1 Sunday, the Golden Knights are a huge favourite to win at -345. Right off the bat, Vegas is 8-0-2 in their last 10 versus Vancouver. The two teams played once this year, Vegas winning 6-3. Golden Knights forward <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/p\/pacioma01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Max Pacioretty<\/strong><\/a> had four points in the win.<\/p>\n<p>Both teams have goalies who can steal games in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/l\/lehnero01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Robin Lehner<\/strong><\/a> (Vegas) and<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/m\/marksja02.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> <strong>Jacob Markstrom<\/strong><\/a> (Vancouver). In the First Round, it was Markstrom who stood out with a .929 save percentage, Lehner&#8217;s a pedestrian .904.<\/p>\n<p>The Golden Knights are a well-balanced time with offensive weapons on multiple lines. They have the experience too with most of their core still intact from the inaugural-season cup run. But, the Canucks looked better against their opponent in the First Round. Vegas didn&#8217;t crush Chicago on the scoreboard, and in all honesty, could&#8217;ve played better.<\/p>\n<p>The Canucks are the entertaining, Cinderella club this postseason on a 7-3 run. If there&#8217;s an advantage for Vancouver, it&#8217;s special teams. The Canucks have a 26.2 power-play percentage, the second-best among non-eliminated teams. Vancouver has a solid chance of carrying over that magic and taking out the top-seed in the west. Plus their value is great \u2014 Canucks in seven is the official pick.<\/p>\n<p>Official bet: Canucks to win +245<\/p>\n<h3>Dallas Stars (3) vs Colorado Avalanche (2)<\/h3>\n<blockquote class=\"imgur-embed-pub\" lang=\"en\" data-id=\"a\/ZI3JGW0\" data-context=\"false\"><p>&nbsp;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/s.imgur.com\/min\/embed.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>The Stars offence came through in their 4-2 series win over the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/nhl-teams\/flames\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Calgary Flames<\/a> last week. Dallas is on a roll too, winning three straight including a 7-3 thumping to eliminate the Flames. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/h\/heiskmi01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Miro Heiskanen<\/strong><\/a> now leads all NHL too with 12 postseason points in nine games.<\/p>\n<p>Fresh off back-to-back 7-1 wins, the Avalanche are on fire. The <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/nhl-teams\/coyotes\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Arizona Coyotes<\/a> stood no chance to Colorado in their five-game series. Colorado forward <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/k\/kadrina01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Nazem Kadri<\/strong> <\/a>had a series-high five goals and is the perfect compliment to the Avs&#8217; top line.<\/p>\n<p>Colorado enters Game 1 as a -268 favourite, which might be a tad high. The Avalanche should be the favourite, but the Stars bring a veteran group who can put the puck in the net too. If there&#8217;s a trend to watch in this series, it actually goes against what most would think: nine of these two teams&#8217; last 10 meetings have gone under the total. Dallas has won of their last five games too.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s still hard to go against the Avs here.\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/b\/bishobe01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ben Bishop<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>appears to still be unit to play in Dallas&#8217; net, which makes a huge difference. Colorado should be able to score on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/k\/khudoan01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Anton Khudobin<\/strong><\/a>, granted I&#8217;m not sure who could stop the Avalanche offence right now.<\/p>\n<p>Colorado&#8217;s power play is clicking at 30.6 percent this postseason, and they&#8217;re the highest-scoring postseason teams with 3.88 goals per game. The Avs also have three double-digit point scorers already in Kadri,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/m\/mackina01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Nathan MacKinnon<\/strong><\/a>, and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/r\/rantami01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Mikko Rantanen<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Unless Dallas can keep putting five or more goals in a game, Colorado wins and easily. Colorado in five as the official prediction.<\/p>\n<p>Official play: Colorado to win -268, Colorado 4-1 +330, and Colorado 4-2 +350<\/p>\n<h3>Western Conference Winner Betting Odds<\/h3>\n<blockquote class=\"imgur-embed-pub\" lang=\"en\" data-id=\"a\/SecEeBC\" data-context=\"false\"><p>&nbsp;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/s.imgur.com\/min\/embed.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Lastly, with the Second Round here there are updated odds on the Western Conference winner among the four remaining teams. The safe pick is definitely the Avalanche at +175, who should have an easier time this round and match up well against both Vegas and Vancouver. According to my above predictions, the value is with Vancouver. At +400, the Canucks are a nice investment considering the goal-scoring punch they bring and goaltending at the other end.<\/p>\n<p>That said, the West is Colorado&#8217;s to lose and +175 is still a good price. Take the Avs.<\/p>\n<p>The choice is yours and yours alone. But we are here to guide through this difficult process. Again this is for entertainment purposes only. Nothing guaranteed, and please enjoy responsibly.<\/p>\n<p>Main photo:<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"G3YU4QeGQXRIwjcd3xZkZA\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.ca\/detail\/1065032868\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'G3YU4QeGQXRIwjcd3xZkZA',sig:'oe-VsKPlvwWr20a81Rrd32nM7k8f5Ijza0FVnrp6zNI=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1065032868',caption: true ,tld:'ca',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Second Round of Stanley Cup Playoffs gets underway tonight, and both Western Conference series&#8217; have some massive favourites in the\u00a0Vegas Golden Knights and Colorado Avalanche. Both took their first-round series&#8217; in five games and appear to be on a collision course to the Western Conference Finals. That&#8217;s unless the high-flying Vancouver Canucks, or under-the-radar [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2619,"featured_media":83722,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,28,29,4547,4548,26,807],"tags":[5335,36,102,5338,158,961,947],"class_list":["post-83720","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-avalanche","category-stars","category-hockey","category-nhl","category-canucks","category-vegas-golden-knights","tag-2020-playoffs","tag-colorado-avalanche","tag-dallas-stars","tag-nhl-postseason","tag-vancouver-canucks","tag-vegas-golden-knights","tag-western-conference"],"modified_by":"Jim Biringer","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83720","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2619"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83720"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83720\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/83722"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}