Underdogs again.
That’s where the Golden Knights find themselves against the Carolina Hurricanes in the Stanley Cup Finals after their stunning sweep of the Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference Finals as 2-1 series underdogs.
The Knights are +130 series underdogs to the Hurricanes, who are -140 favorites on the Westgate SuperBook to lift the cup.
“Just because they have home ice (advantage). That’s it. If the Knights had home ice, they’d be a slight favorite,” SuperBooks vice president of risk Ed Salmons said. “I would say in the grand scheme of things, with the way these teams are playing, it’s a pretty even series.
“If I had to bet, I’d bet on the ‘dog, just because I don’t think Carolina should be such a high favorite, even if it falls as much as it has.”
The Hurricanes opened as high as -205 on Friday at the FanDuel sportsbook, which does not operate in Nevada, during their 6-1 Eastern Conference title win over the Montreal Canadiens in Game 5.
Carolina, which swept its first two playoff series, is a -145 favorite over the Knights (+135) in Tuesday’s Game 1. The total is 5½ (over 120).
“It should be a really, really good betting streak. It’s a phenomenal matchup,” Boomer Sportsbook Director of Trading Nick Bogdanovich said. “Carolina has been the best team in the East all year, and Vegas is playing at a super high level right now.
“Vegas is the hot team and the Golden Knights are very popular here in the Vegas sports books.”
The Knights are the money leader at BetMGM to win the Stanley Cup and the second largest debt. They’re also a losing proposition for the Boomers, although Bogdanovich, a Las Vegas native, said the book hopes the hometown team prevails.
“We lose with them but not enough to where we don’t want the Golden Knights,” he said. “Obviously, born and raised here and everybody’s a Golden Knights fan for the most part. We’d like to see the Golden Knights get it done, even if they were to hurt us a little bit.”
While Las Vegas sportsbooks typically root against the Knights from a business perspective on a nightly basis, the Boomers would benefit if a significant alternate series bet it took on Carolina -1½ bets at +140 didn’t make money.
Props
The most popular prop bet on books is for the player to score the first goal.
“We’ve done it for every game all year. It adds up to a decent amount,” Salmons said. “It’s going to be the most popular prop just because people like short-term, big-odds stuff, and that’s what it is. You can bet Mark Stone to score the first goal at 18-1. You’re getting value for money.”
Knights center Jack Eichel is 13-1 at BetMGM as the top scorer, right winger Pavel Dorofeyev is +1350 and right winger Mitch Marner is +1450.
Marner is the money leader at BetMGM and the biggest risk to win the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP. Marner is the +155 favorite to win the award, followed by Hurricanes goaltender Frederik Andersen (+230). Knights netminder Carter Hart is 10-1 and Eichel is 13-1.
Circa Sports offers a wealth of props, including whether a goal will be scored in the first five minutes (yes pays +190) or 10 minutes (yes is -140).
Boomer’s offers several promotions for the series. Customers who bet at least $20 on the Knights moneyline can earn a $10 bonus bet if the Knights score a first period goal and an additional $10 bonus bet if one of the Original Misfits (William Karlsson, Brayden McNabb, Reilly Smith, Shea Theodore) scores at any point in the game. All Knights goalscorer bets will also be refunded if the team is shut out in the game.
Back to the future
The Knights and Hurricanes opened the season as 8-1 co-favorites at Westgate to win it all. The Knights saw their odds shoot as high as 18-1 and were mired in a 4-10-2 slide in March before coach Bruce Cassidy was fired and replaced by veteran John Tortorella.
“If you sat here two months ago and said this team was going to the Stanley Cup Finals, people would laugh at you,” Salmons said. “But one thing we’ve learned in hockey, you always have some team that gets hot that surprises everyone — and this time it’s the Knights.”
Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@ theplayerlounge.com. Follow @tdewey33 on X.
