Even after earning a victory in their series opener against the Colorado Avalanche, the Vegas Golden Knights remain underdogs according to the oddsmakers.
That is a heady concept considering that Game 1 victors historically have won more than 68 percent of Stanley Cup playoff series.
Yet, on the heels of Wednesday’s 4-2 road victory, the Golden Knights are expected to fall short in the Western Conference finals.
Even so, it makes sense.
Teams that win Game 1 on the road have a .572 series-winning percentage when the dust has settled.
Which means the Golden Knights are not free and clear against an Avalanche squad that came out of the gates strong, but could not maintain momentum until they trailed 3-0 early in the third period of the series curtain raiser.
But when the Avalanche found their footing and mounted a push, they made enough damage to get the Golden Knights and their faithful something to be concerned about going forward.
Noteworthy, the Avalanche were also without their dynamic defenseman, and Norris Trophy favorite Cale Makar for the series opener.
Whether Makar — who appears to have suffered some form of shoulder injury in the deciding clash against the Minnesota Wild last round — returns for Game 2 or even later in the series remains to be seen. His availability will be a huge boon for the Avalanche, who finished atop the league standings in the regular season.
On the flip side, the Golden Knights have a major injury concern of their own in captain Mark Stone. Stone was hurt in Game 3 of his team’s clash with the Anaheim Ducks last round. He skated in the morning of the game with the scratches, but the team has provided no timetable for his return.
A healthy return for Stone will aid the Vegas cause considerably.
As it stands now, here are predictions for the meeting: Both Makar and Stone will play before the series reaches Game 4, and the Avalanche rebound from losing the opener to claim the best-of-seven series in six games.
Looking to the other side of the continent, the oddsmakers — rightfully — have the Carolina Hurricanes heavily favored to dispatch the Montreal Canadiens in the Eastern Conference finals.
Sure, the Canadiens have become a great story in this year’s playoffs. Rookie goaltender Jakub Dobes has backstopped his team to two Game 7 victories to reach this point. Alex Newhook scored the winning goal in both deciding games. To top it off, the Canadiens are a young and exciting team that is more likely to play a high-scoring game as a 2-1 affair.
Yet for all their attributes, the Canadiens are facing a Mount Everest-sized task to knock out the Hurricanes, even knowing Montreal swept the regular-season series.
The Hurricanes, who finished atop the Eastern Conference and have swept their opposition in each of the first two rounds, are built to reach the Stanley Cup Final. Their relentless pace of play is at a level the Canadiens have not faced.
Carolina has the ability to stifle opponents, especially with its forecheck. And after working so hard to create a scoring chance, the Canadiens will need to solve goaltender Frederik Andersen, who has surrendered only 10 goals against in eight playoff games.
Then toss into the mix the fatigue factor. Sure, rust may be an issue for Carolina having waited a dozen days to resume game action, but the Canadiens have arrived to this point from the other side of the pendulum, needing seven games in each of the first two rounds.
