The chase for Lord Stanley’s Cup begins Wednesday night as the Columbus Blue Jackets take on the Tampa Bay Lightning down in Florida and the Pittsburgh Penguins head to Gotham to take on the New York Islanders. Other Wednesday games have St. Louis in Winnipeg to take on the Jets, Dallas in Nashville to face the Predators and Vegas out in the Bay Area to skate with the San Jose Sharks. The other three conference quarterfinal series begin on Thursday, with Toronto renewing an Original Six rivalry in Boston against the Bruins, Carolina visiting the Washington Capitals and the Colorado Avalanche north of the border in Calgary. We have sports betting predictions for each of the eight first-round series. We have the latest 2019 Stanley Cup betting odds for the 16 contending teams as well as predictions for the playoffs.
2019 NHL Playoffs Odds & Betting Predictions
Good luck:@TBLightning @PredsNHL @BlueJacketsNHL @DallasStars @NHLBruins @NHLJets @MapleLeafs @StLouisBlues @Capitals @NHLFlames @NHLCanes @Avalanche @NYIslanders @SanJoseSharks @penguins @GoldenKnights
Only one can take me home, work it out amongst yourselves. — The Stanley Cup (@StanleyCup) 10 de abril de 2019
Eastern Conference
A = Atlantic, M = Metropolitan, WC = Wild Card
Tampa Bay (A1) vs Columbus (WC2)
Columbus goalie Sergei Bobrovsky has a playoff save percentage of just .891 in 24 games. The Lightning should light him up in the postseason. There’s also the fact that Tampa Bay rolled all over Columbus during the regular season, and Columbus has never won a postseason series. Columbus did gamble at the trade deadline and now they’re in the playoffs. Even so…Tampa Bay in 5.
Boston (A2) vs Toronto (A3)
Yes, the Maple Leafs have John Tavares, Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner. But these Leafs have been sucking fumes down the stretch. Goalie Frederik Andersen is terrific, but the players are making too many mistakes in front of him. Boston had a much better finishing stretch to this season. This is a terrific postseason rivalry, with the last two series going seven games. This one will too…Boston in 7.
Washington (M1) vs Carolina (WC1)
Washington swept the Hurricanes in the season series, winning all four games. Washington started the season with a deep Stanley Cup hangover. It is worth pointing out that Carolina has been to the postseason three times since 1999-2000 but have won nine series, the same number of series wins that Washington has since 2010-11. However, the Capitals have the depth, the experience and the hunger. Washington in 6.
New York Islanders (M2) vs Pittsburgh (M3)
The Islanders have the top defensive team in the NHL. Most observers picked them to miss the playoffs when John Tavares signed with the Maple Leafs. The Islanders have the same coach (Barry Trotz) who beat Pittsburgh last year, but that was when Trotz coached Washington. But do you really think that defense can stop Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin in the postseason? Pittsburgh in 6.
Western Conference
C = Central, P = Pacific, WC = Wild Card
Calgary (P1) vs Colorado (WC2)
Colorado went nuts down the stretch to snag that last wild card, and the only issue is their goaltending, which can get ugly at times. Calgary’s offense has made the difference, though, as they rank second in goal scoring at 3.52 per contest. Johnny Gaudreau should continue to stack up the points. Calgary in 5.
San Jose (P2) vs Vegas (P3)
San Jose fell off the table down the stretch, thanks in large part because of an injury to Erik Karlsson. However, he returned for the regular season finale and should help the San Jose offense, which has Joe Thornton and four other 30-goal scorers. The goaltending is marginal, though, as Martin Jones has been shaky at best this season. Vegas has the much better goalie In Marc-Andre Fleury. Vegas in 6.
Nashville (C1) vs Dallas (WC1)
Dallas’ Ben Bishop has four shutouts in the last 36 days. He’ll need to stop every shot that he sees. Dallas ranked 28th in the NHL in offense despite having a ton of talent, while Nashville ranks third in the league in defense. Few teams make crucial blunders at the wrong time as Dallas, despite their improved play since the All-Star break. Nashville in 7.
Winnipeg (C2) vs St. Louis (C3)
Since the Blues brought in Craig Berube to coach on an interim basis, the team has a .651 winning percentage, and the Blues have turned things around. Winnipeg has home ice, but few of the professional sports offer as little significance when it comes to home advantage as does hockey. St. Louis in 6.
