Golden Knights small favorite over Stars in round-robin opener

Las Vegas Review-Journal

4 years ago

Vegas Golden Knights right wing Reilly Smith (19), Vegas Golden Knights center William Karlsson ... — Vegas Golden Knights right wing Reilly Smith (19), Vegas Golden Knights center William Karlsson (71), Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Alec Martinez (23), Vegas Golden Knights center Nick Cousins (21) and Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Nate Schmidt (88) celebrate after Cousins scored a goal in the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2020, at T-Mobile Arena, in Las Vegas. (Benjamin Hager/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @benjaminhphoto

With the NHL preplayoffs fast approaching Aug. 1, Las Vegas sportsbooks have posted lines on all eight opening qualifying round games and all four opening round-robin games at Edmonton and Toronto.

The Golden Knights are -125 favorites over the Dallas Stars (+115) in their scheduled Aug. 3 round-robin game at Edmonton. Vegas is +205 on the puck line (-1½) at the Westgate and the total is 5½ (Under -130).

The Blues and Avalanche are each -105 in the other Western Conference round-robin game on Aug. 2.

In the Eastern Conference round-robin games in Toronto, the Bruins are -130 favorites over the Flyers (+120) on Aug. 2 and the Lightning are -125 favorites over the Capitals (+115) on Aug. 3.

The winners of the best-of-five qualifying round series will advance to face one of the round-robin teams in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Here are the lines on the five qualifying round games scheduled for Aug. 1:

— Penguins (-165) over Canadiens (+150)

— Hurricanes (-125) over Rangers (+115)

— Panthers (-105) vs. Islanders (-105)

— Oilers (-145) over Blackhawks (+132)

— Flames (-115) over Jets (+105)

A bettor at the Westgate placed a $5,500 straight wager to win $5,000 on Calgary over Winnipeg in Game 1 and a $2,200 bet to win $2,000 on the Flames to win the series.

Here are the lines on the three qualifying round games scheduled for Aug. 2:

— Maple Leafs (-150) over Blue Jackets (+135)

— Predators (-125) over Coyotes (+115)

— Canucks (-115) over Wild (+105)

The NHL exhibition game schedule is slated to start July 28. The Knights are scheduled to play Arizona at 7 p.m. on July 30. Lines have yet to be posted on the exhibitions.

Vegas is the 6-1 favorite to win the Stanley Cup, followed by Tampa Bay (7-1), Boston (7-1) and Colorado (8-1).

“We’ve taken a bunch of money on Toronto (12-1) and Edmonton (30-1). The Rangers (60-1) have gotten a lot of money,” Westgate sportsbook vice president of risk Ed Salmons said. “They’re betting on all these long shots.”

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