With as great as these Stanley Cup playoffs have been this season, some would probably view it as a bit of a surprise that a No. 2 seed and a No. 3 seed are playing against each other in the finals. Alas, the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Chicago Blackhawks have earned their respective ways here, and they should make for a great series starting on Wednesday.
ODDS TO WIN THE STANLEY CUP
Chicago Blackhawks -150
Tampa Bay Lightning +130
We have seen a lot of early line movement here on the odds to win the Stanley Cup, and the Blackhawks have been garnering most of the attention.
BookMaker is reporting that just a tick under 70 percent of the bets in this series as of Sunday night have come in on the Blackhawks, and the line has moved accordingly. This series opened up very close to a pick 'em and was available at Chicago -129 at the start of the day on Sunday. The move, considering the magnitude of this series, is a massive one, as it isn't often that we see any movement anywhere near the likes of this in a championship game/series in any sport.
Remember that the Blackhawks are going to be playing Games 1, 2, 4 and 7 on the road in this series, so if this one goes the distance, they will definitively be an underdog in the decisive game.
Tampa Bay has opened up as a -125 favorite in Game 1 on Wednesday night.
EXACT SERIES RESULT
Chicago 4-0 ( +850 )
Chicago 4-1 ( +400 )
Chicago 4-2 ( +350 )
Chicago 4-3 ( +425 )
Tampa Bay 4-0 ( +1400 )
Tampa Bay 4-1 ( +650 )
Tampa Bay 4-2 ( +600 )
Tampa Bay 4-3 ( +450 )
Obviously, if you can figure out how to hit the nail on the head in this series in terms of the number of games played, you'll be able to make a small fortune in doing so.
Even the greatest optimist for their team can't possibly see a sweep coming on either side in this series though, which really should bring us down to one of six results instead of one of four. Both Corey Crawford and Ben Bishop have been fantastic, but neither has had enough sustained success to make us believe that there are four straight wins coming from either net minder.
In fact, we really don't see this series ending in five either. As we see it, this series is going to end up going exactly how each of the conference finals went. Both teams are going to get a game at home and a game on the road, which would setup the possibility of either team finishing the series in six or seven.
For our money, Chicago in seven is the best bet on the board at +425, but we don't think you can go wrong betting either team in six games or seven games as well. Doing so would give you a very slight arbitrage with around an eight percent return on investment.
It might be a scary wagering proposition, especially if one team takes a 2-0 series lead on the other, but in the end, it's tough to see how this series isn't going at least six games for as well as both have played and for as good as this postseason has been. If this series is 2-2 going back to Tampa for Game 5, all that's left for you to do is to sit back and wait for your winnings to roll right in.
The NHL spreads for all of the games in this series will be first available at BookMaker Sportsbook. Minute-by-minute spreads, totals and props are available for the NHL playoffs using the live betting platform at BookMaker.
BookMaker offers play-by-play betting odds for live sporting events every day! The user-friendly interface on your smartphone provides an easy way to place bets on the go. Mobile betting lines are updated by the minute, so click here to start gambling on thrilling live action at BookMaker Sportsbook! The series between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Tampa Bay Lightning will start on Wednesday, June 3, 2015 at 8:00 p.m. ET. Games 1, 2, 5 and 7 will be played at Amalie Arena in Tampa, FL, while Games 3, 4 and 6 will take place at the United Center in Chicago, IL.
