You don’t have to spend a fraction of a second convincing a die-hard hockey fan that the Stanley Cup Playoffs are the most exciting postseason in all of sports. Casuals are also hooked by the ice drama that transpires each spring, as even Charles Barkley—the preeminent NBA analyst—proclaims that the NHL postseason is easily the best.
The unpredictability of hockey is the biggest reason for its status as the most thrilling, as upsets are commonplace.
With the field now set, we’ll dish out a betting preview for this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs below.
Eastern ConferenceA1 Buffalo Sabres vs. WC1 Boston BruinsThe Sabres are in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in 15 years, so KeyBank Center will be an absolute zoo when this series against the Bruins kicks off on Sunday night. Regardless of how amped the Buffalo crowd is, though, this will not be a walk in the park for the Sabres. Boston won the season series with Buffalo this season, 3-1, and the B’s have the top offensive player in the series in David Pastrnak, who tallied 100 points this season, tied for seventh-best in the NHL.
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Both teams have top-notch goaltenders in Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (.909 save percentage) and Jeremy Swayman (.907 save percentage).
The Sabres went 50-23-9 (109 points) this season, while Boston went 45-27-10 (100 points).
Buffalo is favored to win the series at Fanatics Sportsbook, owning a -175 price.
A2 Tampa Bay Lightning vs. A3 Montreal CanadiensThe Lightning are favored to win this series as they have a -260 price at Fanatics Sportsbook.
Tampa Bay is far from a lock, though, as the Canadiens won the season series, 2-1-1, and Montreal took the last two meetings. The Habs went into Tampa Bay and won 4-1 on March 31, and then beat the Lightning 2-1 at home on April 9.
Both teams have no problem putting the puck in the net as both finished top 10 in Goals For per Game.
Tampa Bay does have the advantage between the pipes, with Andrei Vasilevskiy shooting for a second Conn Smyth Trophy.
Fanatics lists the Lightning winning this series 4-1 as the most likely outcome.
M1 Carolina Hurricanes vs. WC2 Ottawa SenatorsThe Hurricanes won the season series over the Senators, 2-1 with the one Ottawa victory on April 5, when Carolina rested stars Jordan Staal and Jordan Martinook.
Carolina is just a -170 series favorite at Fanatics Sportsbook despite owning a much better record. The Hurricanes finished with the top mark in the Eastern Conference at 53-22-7. Ottawa went 44-27-11 in the regular season.
The Sens were one of the top teams in the NHL in the second half of the season, however, and they finished the campaign strong with a 15-8 record after March 1.
Carolina, on paper, has the goaltending advantage as Ottawa finished the season with the second-worst save percentage in the NHL at .882.
The most likely series outcome at Fanatics is the Hurricanes winning in seven games (+360).
M2 Pittsburgh Penguins vs. A3 Philadelphia FlyersThe “Battle of Pennsylvania” will feature a veteran-laden Penguins squad going up against a youthful Flyers bunch. The teams split the season series, 2-2, with Philly taking the most recent affair by a score of 4-3 (shootout). Pittsburgh was without Sidney Crosby, who was nursing a lower-body injury at the time.
Crosby is once again the Penguins’ leading scorer with 29 goals and 45 assists on the season. Travis Konecny led the Flyers offensively this season with 27 goals and 41 assists.