With the stage now set for a rematch of the 1970 Stanley Cup ultimate, the Boston Bruins have emerged as an early favourite to assert their first title since 2011, sporting quick -165 odds on the NHL sequence costs at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
Boston will face the St. Louis Blues, who disposed of the San Jose Sharks with a 5-1 win in Game 6 of the Western Conference ultimate on Tuesday and will probably be making their first Stanley Cup ultimate look in 49 years after they take the ice for Monday night time’s Game 1 matchup at TD Garden.
The Bruins struggled down the stretch, closing out the common season with simply seven wins of their ultimate 14 outings, and carried that inconsistency into their opening-round conflict with the Toronto Maple Leafs. With their offense sputtering, the Bruins had been pushed to the brink of elimination by Toronto, however the membership rebounded from a 3-2 sequence deficit to as soon as once more knock off the Maple Leafs.
The Bruins then fell behind 2-1 of their second-round conflict with Columbus. However, Boston has been red-hot since, rebounding with three straight wins to get previous the Blue Jackets earlier than dominating in a four-game sweep of the Carolina Hurricanes within the Eastern Conference ultimate, a sequence the membership entered as -155 betting favorites.
It has been a harder street to glory for the Blues, who return to the Stanley Cup ultimate as +135 underdogs on the Stanley Cup odds. Buried on the backside of the Western Conference standings as not too long ago as January 2, the Blues have been the most well liked crew within the NHL since, closing out the common season on a 29-10-5 run.
Lagging in the course of the pack as a +1800 wager on the Stanley Cup odds at sports activities betting websites in late February, the Blues entered the playoffs as a +1200 wager earlier than vaulting to +550 co-favorites after knocking off the Winnipeg Jets in six video games within the first spherical.
The Blues wanted seven video games and a pair of wins whereas going through elimination to get previous the Dallas Stars within the second spherical, and steadily gained momentum whereas overcoming an early deficit in opposition to an injury-plagued Sharks squad.
However, historical past will not be on the Blues’ aspect. St. Louis was swept in every of its three earlier Stanley Cup ultimate appearances, together with when these two groups met in a memorable 1970 matchup which ended with Bobby Orr’s historic Cup-winning time beyond regulation purpose in Game 4.
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