The Vancouver Canucks are moving onto round 2 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and their road to the finals isn’t getting any easier. A Pacific Division clash against their archrival and Stanley Cup favourite Edmonton Oilers has the Canucks listed as heavy underdogs on PlayNow to advance.
If the Canucks (3.00) manage to survive the Oilers (1.40) in round 2, a $10 wager on Vancouver would pay out a total of $30 whereas a successful $10 wager on Edmonton pays $14. In fact, the betting favourite is for the Oilers to defeat the Canucks in six games (4.00), followed behind Edmonton in 5 games (4.50), Edmonton in 7 games (5.75) and Edmonton in 4 games (6.50). The outcome with the shortest odds in Vancouver’s favour is the Canucks to win in 7 (7.00).
The Canucks’ most significant challenge of the series will be their quest to shutdown the Oilers’ “big five”; Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Evan Bouchard, Zach Hyman and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins accounted for a combined 15 goals and 30 assists in their five-game dismantling of the Los Angeles Kings, including all nine of the Oilers’ powerplay goals. McDavid (1.63) and Draisaitl (5.00) are the betting favourites to lead the series in points.
For Vancouver’s part, they’ll need more offense than what they showed in the first round – especially from star centre Elias Pettersson, who recorded just three assists in their six-game series against Nashville. However, Pettersson did record 7 points across his four meetings with the Oilers this season, more than any other club he faced. His odds of leading the series in points are a lofty 11.00.
With just eight clubs left in the playoffs, the Oilers (5.25) and Florida Panthers (5.25) are the betting favourites on PlayNow to win the Stanley Cup, followed by the Dallas Stars (5.75), New York Rangers (6.50) and Carolina Hurricanes. The Canucks (13.00) have the longest odds of the remaining eight teams.
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*Odds listed are correct at time of posting but are subject to change at any time.
