NHL Stanley Cup playoffs predictions and ice hockey betting tips: Vegas can hit the jackpot

Where to watch the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs

Full live overage of the playoffs is on Premier Sports, starting with St Louis Blues v Winnipeg Jets at 11pm on Saturday, April 19.

Best bets for the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs

Vegas Golden Knights to win the Stanley Cup
1pt 9-1 Hills

Montreal Canadiens to beat Washington Capitals
1pt 5-2 Hills

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NHL Stanley Cup playoffs prediction

The 82-game appetiser is now out of the way so the real hard work can begin for the 16 teams who have qualified for the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs.

To lift the famous trophy, the winners must come through four rounds of best-of-seven series. It's a draining and bruising journey that few players will complete injury-free.

The last two champions, Vegas Golden Knights and Colorado Avalanche, both exited in the first round when defending the title, but last year's victors the Florida Panthers are favourites to stage a repeat.

It's a wide open market, though, with the Panthers available at 15-2 and nine teams quoted at 10-1 or shorter with most firms.

One of the reasons for the open betting heat is several of the first-round ties are hard to call, and some big names are going to end their seasons a lot earlier than planned.

However, Vegas should have no trouble negotiating a way past the Minnesota Wild.

The Wild's season was blighted by injuries, but while they have got some important players back recently – most notably star forward Kiril Kaprizov – they have lost their last five meetings with the Golden Knights.

Vegas tooled up for their title defence at the trade deadline last year only to fall in the decisive game seven against Dallas Stars in the first round.    

The Wild are a much inferior side to last year's Stars, though, and the series should give Vegas an opportunity to bed themselves into the playoffs before a second-round clash with either the LA Kings or Edmonton Oilers.

Washington's Alex Ovechkin became the NHL's all-time leading goalscorer late this seasonCredit: Getty Images

The Washington Capitals' season has been all about Alex Ovechkin catching, and eventually passing Wayne Gretzky as the NHL's all-time leading goalscorer, so it was a little surprising that they ended up as the top team in the Eastern Conference.

The 39-year-old captain's record 895th career goal came only last week and it remains to be seen how that aspect of the season will affect the Capitals' mindset going into the playoffs.

If their last week of the regular season was anything to go by the Caps could be vulnerable. They won only one of their final five games in regulation time and suffered an 11-1 aggregate defeat in two games against non-playoff Columbus.

Their first-round opponents, the Montreal Canadiens, have reached the postseason for the first time since their Stanley Cup Finals appearance in 2021.

While they haven't been fantastic, only just sneaking into the postseason, they put together a six-game win streak at the start of the month and their youthful roster will be fired up for playoff hockey.

The Canadiens are the most successful franchise in NHL history despite not having lifted the Cup since 1993, and their success-starved fans will create an atmosphere the players can feed off at the Bell Centre for their home games.

They are the outsiders in this series for a reason, but it could be a lot closer than the odds indicate.

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What are the first-round matchups?

Eastern Conference

Toronto Maple Leafs vs Ottawa Senators

Tampa Bay Lightning vs Florida Panthers

Washington Capitals vs Montreal Canadiens

Carolina Hurricanes vs New Jersey Devils

Western Conference

Winnipeg Jets vs St Louis Blues

Dallas Stars vs Colorado Avalanche

Vegas Golden Knights vs Minnesota Wild

LA Kings vs Edmonton Oilers

Read more...

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