NHL Playoff Odds: Second-Round Series Prices

After an exciting Round 1 of the NHL playoffs that featured two Game 7s, the second round is here. With an all-Canadian matchup headlining the next round, there’s plenty to handicap still in Stanley Cup odds. NHL playoff betting for second-round odds leaves plenty of series prices to unpack.

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Edmonton Oilers vs. Vancouver Canucks

The Canucks continued their lucky run in the first round. Their third-string goalie put up a .938 Save% in the first round en route to beating Nashville in six games. The Predators were disasters offensively, which isn’t the case for the Oilers. The Canucks offense sputtered, only scoring 12 goals in six games. If not for miraculous goaltending, they wouldn’t have made it this far.

The Oilers pose a much more difficult test. Winning in 5 against the Kings, the Oilers proved they can win both high-scoring games and defensive battles. With Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl first and second in league scoring, the Oilers are running two lines as good as the Canucks’ best line. The Oilers’ special teams were also elite, failing to concede a single goal on the penalty kill all series. And their power play is more dangerous than any in the league.

Plainly, unless the Canucks manage to get similarly elite goaltending again, they’re a sitting duck. The Oilers are the biggest pre-series favorite on the board despite not having a home-ice advantage for a reason. The Canucks were a nice regular-season story. They even got lucky enough to win a round. They’re fundamentally not good enough to beat the Oilers.

The Canucks went 4-0 in the regular season, but these results are irrelevant. The Oilers didn’t have Connor McDavid for the last game, and the first three took place before Edmonton fired Jay Woodcroft. These ain’t the October Oilers. Oilers in 5, and Oilers -1.5 are both solid bets.

Boston Bruins vs. Florida Panthers

The Bruins took longer to dispatch Toronto than I thought. Nearly blowing a 3-1 lead, the Bruins showed both their weakness and their strength in that series. The offense just isn’t very strong for the Bruins, and goalscoring was at a premium at the end of the series. That said, Jeremy Swayman showed their strength as well. If the Bruins are to have much hope in this series, Swayman out-dueling Sergei Bobrovsky is a necessary part of that picture.

Florida winning Game 1 feels like a lock, given their week of rest compared to Boston’s singular day off. More importantly, Florida was dominant against Tampa. They averaged 3.2 goals non-empty net goals in 5 games. More interestingly, they won without good goaltending. Bobrovsky was only able to give them a sub-.900 Save%, and they still won in 5. If he’s even remotely better against a worst offensive team, it’s over.

The Bruins showed that they’re not a great team this year. They’re good, not great. Florida’s arguably the best team in the East. This shouldn’t take very many games at all. If Boston was really going to pose a threat to cash NHL second-round odds, they wouldn’t have nearly blown a 3-1 lead to the Leafs.

Carolina Hurricanes vs. New York Rangers

The Rangers were an underdog before winning Game 1, and this is the most likely series in the second round to go 7. The Rangers have consistently outperformed their modelled outcomes, mostly on the back of Igor Shesterkin’s tremendous goaltending. The goaltending advantage came up good for the Rangers in Game 1, as Shesterkin outduelled Frederik Andersen in MSG.

With the Hurricanes needing a road win and losing an opportunity to get it, the Rangers now being favored makes sense. The thing is, the Hurricanes were pretty dominant in Round 1, winning all three games in Carolina by two or more.

With the Rangers worse at 5-on-5 by expected goals, the Hurricanes can easily still win this series. Home ice has meant little in these playoffs, with 21 games won by the road team and 24 by the home team in Round 1.

With that, the Hurricanes are better, and all losing Game 1 means is there’s a better price available on them.

Colorado Avalanche vs. Dallas Stars

This is where I’ll go ever so slightly non-conventional because Colorado proved themselves in Round 1. Despite not having home ice and having a massive on-paper goaltending deficit, the Avalanche proved they can still score. Averaging nearly five goals per game, the Avalanche not only won, but won fast.

That rest advantage will prove key against the Stars, who had to play a grueling seven games against Vegas. In theory, Jake Oettinger is a serious goaltending advantage for Dallas. The Stars’ offensive depth is very helpful against a Colorado team that is heavily reliant on MacKinnon and Makar. But Dallas scored 15 goals in 7 games, which just isn’t enough. Yes, Colorado’s goaltending is shakier than the Zapruder film, but any Dallas invasion should prove as successful as the Bay of Pigs.

Best of luck betting NHL second-round odds!