Gerard Gallant’s firing has no impact on Golden Knights’ odds

The firing of Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant had no impact at Las Vegas sportsbooks on the team’s odds to win the 2020 Stanley Cup.

The Westgate sportsbook already had lowered the Knights’ Stanley Cup odds to 12-1 after their fourth straight loss, a 4-2 defeat Tuesday at the Buffalo Sabres. The book made no additional moves after Vegas fired Gallant on Wednesday and hired former San Jose Sharks coach Peter DeBoer.

“Changing the coach didn’t do anything to the odds. We’ve been adjusting them up based on their recent play,” said Jeff Sherman, Westgate vice president of risk. “They were as low as 7-1 at the start of their recent homestand, but what they’ve done losing four in a row, we eased them up to 12-1. It’s all player-related.

“Changing the coach, from our perspective, it’s not a surprise. This team has underperformed to expectations the whole season and has been inconsistent the whole season.”

The Knights remain the +750 co-favorites at William Hill to win the Stanley Cup with the Tampa Bay Lightning and Boston Bruins.

Vegas is in a four-way tie for the fifth choice at the Westgate, which lists the Lightning as the 7-1 favorites, followed by the Bruins and St. Louis Blues at 8-1 and the Washington Capitals at 10-1.

The Knights (24-19-6), who opened the season at the Westgate as the 7-1 second choice behind Tampa Bay, saw their odds climb as high as 16-1.

The Westgate took a $3,300 wager on Vegas at 14-1 and on Jan. 3 took a $10,000 wager to win $100,000 on the Knights at 10-1.

“That’s what knocked them down to 7-1,” Sherman said. “Money wasn’t showing up on them like it had their first two seasons.”

Bettors who placed wagers to win $100 on Vegas in every game this season would be down $1,425. The Knights have cost $100 bettors $820 in their past four games alone, losing 4-3 to the Penguins as -170 favorites, 5-2 to the Kings as -260 favorites, 3-0 to the Blue Jackets as -220 favorites and 4-2 to Buffalo as -170 favorites.

Two nights after falling behind Pittsburgh 3-0 at home, Vegas surrendered four consecutive first-period goals to Los Angeles.

“The loss to the Kings was a very bad loss,” Sherman said. “The Kings were playing back-to-back games, and the Knights were laying 270. To come out like they did, based on their previous game, there was a feeling that something had to change from a leadership standpoint.”

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on Twitter.