Last season, the Los Angeles Kings entered the NHL playoffs as the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference and proceeded to win the Stanley Cup. Will another underdog emerge, or will the top seeds take control? Hockey fans will begin to find out on Tuesday night.
Two of the eight matchups in the opening round are considered toss-ups by the oddsmakers. They feature the Washington Capitals and New York Rangers in the East and the St. Louis Blues and Los Angeles Kings in the West. The Pittsburgh Penguins and Chicago Blackhawks are unsurprisingly the biggest favorites.
Let's examine the odds for each series, courtesy of Bovada.lv, and break down which underdogs have the best chance of pulling off an upset. First, here's a look at the entire bracket heading into the postseason (via NHLPlayoffsBracket.com).
Eastern Conference
No. 1 Pittsburgh Penguins (-440) vs. No. 8 New York Islanders (+320)
Most teams would be nearing panic mode if their top player was questionable for the start of the playoffs. That's the case with Sidney Crosby for the Penguins ( ...
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Article written by Tim Daniels
2013 NHL Playoff Bracket: Last-Minute Odds for First-Round Matchups
April 30th, 2013 by Tim Daniels Leave a reply »
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