Underdogs again.
That’s where the Golden Knights find themselves against the Carolina Hurricanes in the Stanley Cup Final after their stunning sweep of the Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference Final as 2-1 series underdogs.
The Knights are +130 series underdogs to the Hurricanes, who are -140 favorites at 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 tiny favorite,” SuperBook vice president of risk Ed Salmons said. “I would say in the grand scheme, with the way these teams are playing, it’s a pretty even series.
“If I had to bet, I would bet the ‘dog, just because I don’t think Carolina should be this high of a favorite, even with it coming down as much as it has.”
The Hurricanes opened as high as -205 on Friday at FanDuel sportsbook, which doesn’t operate in Nevada, during their Eastern Conference title-clinching 6-1 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 bet series. It’s a phenomenal matchup,” Boomer’s 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 sportsbooks.”
The Knights are the money leaders at BetMGM to win the Stanley Cup and the second-largest liability. They’re also a losing proposition for Boomer’s, though Bogdanovich, a Las Vegas native, said the book hopes the hometown team prevails.
“We lose with them but not enough to where we’re not rooting for the Golden Knights,” he said. “Obviously, born and raised here and everyone’s a Golden Knights fan, for the most part. We would like to see the Golden Knights get it done, even though they would do a little damage to us.”
While Las Vegas sportsbooks typically root against the Knights from a business perspective on a nightly basis, Boomer’s would benefit if a sizable alternate series wager it took on Carolina -1½ games at +140 didn’t cash.
Props
The most popular prop bet at books is on the player to score the first goal.
“We’ve done that for every game all year. It gets a decent amount,” Salmons said. “That will be the most popular prop just because people like short-term things with big odds, and that’s what that is. You can bet Mark Stone to score the first goal at 18-1. You get a bang for your buck.”
Knights center Jack Eichel is 13-1 at BetMGM to be the first goal scorer, right wing Pavel Dorofeyev is +1350 and right wing Mitch Marner is +1450.
Marner is the money leader at BetMGM and biggest liability to win the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP. Marner is the +155 favorite to win the award, followed by Hurricanes goalie Frederik Andersen (+230). Knights netminder Carter Hart is 10-1 and Eichel is 13-1.
Circa Sports offers a plethora 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 is offering several promotions for the series. Customers who wager at least $20 on the Knights money line 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. Also, all Knights goal scorer prop bets will be refunded if the team is shut out in the game.
Back to the futures
The Knights and Hurricanes opened the season as 8-1 co-favorites at the Westgate to win it all. The Knights saw their odds shoot up 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’s going to go to the Stanley Cup Final, 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@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on X.
