Blackhawks Open As Early -140 Favourites

Published on May 31st, 2015 4:39 am EST
Earlier tonight, the Chicago Blackhawks punched their ticket to the Stanley Cup Finals by easily defeating the Anaheim Ducks in Game 7 of the Western Conference finals. With that victory, the Stanley Cup Finals are now set, as the high-flying Tampa Bay Lighting will play host to the Chicago Blackhawks.

Despite opening on the road, the Blackhawks have opened as the favourites to win this series, likely due to their experience in winning the Stanley Cup. If the Blackhawks win the Cup this year, they will have won three times over the past six years.

For the Tampa Bay Lightning, they are hoping to win their first cup since 2004 when they topped the Calgary Flames to win their first ever trophy. None of the players from that franchise are still on the team, so the Lightning will have a deficiency in Finals experience when compared to the Hawks.

Here are the Las Vegas odds for this series:

Chicago Blackhawks, -140
Tampa Bay Lightning, +120

According to these odds, the Blackhawks are being given a 58.48% chance of winning the series, while the Lightning have a 45.45% chance of winning.

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This series features some of the top players in the game today, including the likes of Jonathan Toews, Steven Stamkos and Patrick Kane. Toews is showing why he is likely the NHL's most valuable player in the playoffs, as he almost single-handedly ended the playoff dreams of the Anaheim Ducks in the Conference Finals.

The Lightning have not been great at home in the playoffs, though they have also won in some very hostile buildings. The Lightning have beaten two of the very best goalies in the game since the playoffs started (Price, Lundqvist), and they will be looking to beat another top goalie (at least when it comes to the playoffs) in Corey Crawford.

Ben Bishop for the Tampa Bay Lightning was lights out against the New York Rangers and will likely need to be on top of his game against the Blackhawks.

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This series features two of the NHL's most dynamic offenses which SHOULD mean that fans will be in for a treat. This should be a fantastic series.

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