Vegas Golden Knights Among Stanley Cup Favorites After First Round Sweep

In only a matter of four games, less than a week, the Vegas Golden Knights have gone from one of the best stories in hockey history to one of the best bets to hoist the Stanley Cup.

The Golden  Knights not only opened as the favorites in their second-round matchup against the San Jose Sharks, but they are now officially championship contenders. According to bookmakers, the Knights currently have the second-best odds of winning the Stanley Cup (4/1), just behind the Nashville Predators (7/2).

The expansion team has come a long way since opening the season as a 200-to-1 longshot to win hockey’s biggest prize.

After sweeping the Ducks in Round 1, the Knights continue calibrate everyone’s expectations. They’re now even bigger favorites in the second round than they were in the first round of the playoffs. Vegas opens  as -140 favorites to win the series against San Jose, better than their odds of -135 against Anaheim in the opening round.

Sin City vs. Silicon Valley

It’s a curious betting line for the series considering that San Jose not only had a better regular season than the team Vegas just eliminated, but the Sharks also looked equally dominant in a first-round sweep where they limited the Ducks to just four goals.

The Golden Knights do have home-ice advantage in the series, however, and they collected seven of a possible eight points in the regular season, posting 3-0-1 mark against the Sharks.

Surprises have become the norm for the Golden Knights, and the betting public wants a piece. The Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook has  seen an unprecedented amount of betting on hockey, with the action on the Golden Knights approaching NFL-like levels at times.

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