The 2010 Stanley Cup Conference Finals are in full swing as the battle for the Holy Grail of hockey continues. The four teams remaining are the Chicago Blackhawks, Philadelphia Flyers, San Jose Sharks and Montreal Canadiens. NHL oddsmakers at BETUS.com are favoring the Chicago Blackhawks to win the 2010 Stanley Cup currently listed as -175 moneyline favorites. Be sure to get your 2010 Stanley Cup Odds & Predictions in soon at BETUS.com
The No.2 seeded Chicago Blackhawks (-175) are up on the No.1 seed San Jose Sharks as they head home with a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference Final. The Hawks are getting great offense and have shut down opponents with their defense. The line of Toews, Dustin Byfuglien and Patrick Kane is now being considered by many pundits to be the best in the NHL. Byfuglien is great in front of the net, distracting goalies and finding loose pucks; because of this he has six goals in the last six games. Goalie Antti Niemi is second best in the league with a current 10-4 record with a 2.41 GAA and a .918 SVPCT.
The No.7 seeded Philadelphia Flyers (+275) are the shockers of the league after taking two straight from the No.8 seed Montreal Canadiens in the Eastern Conference Finals. They’ve beatyen them so bad so far they’ve outscored them 9-0. Since goalie Brian Boucher went down in Game 5 against Pittsburgh, backup Michael Leighton has been superb. Leighton is still unbeaten in the playoffs at 4-0 and owns a 0.87 GAA and .969 SVPCT to go along with his back-to-back shutouts. He also combined on a shutout with Brian Boucher in Game 5 of their second-round series. The Flyers are scoring on the power-play. They entered this series first among the four remaining teams in the Stanley Cup Playoffs with 22.7% power-play efficiency.
The No.1 seeded San Jose Sharks (+650) should’ve won at least one game on home ice and now are big underdogs heading into Chicago down 0-2. Penalties and frustration is hurting the Sharks. It seems that when Joe Thornton is on the ice, the Hawks score. Thornton is now minus-10 this postseason and he needs to be disciplined more if they want to make the final. Goalie Evgeni Nabokov has given up six to the Sharks three goals; overall he’s 8-5 with a 2.53 GAA and a .922 SVPCT.
The No.8 seed Montreal Canadiens (+1200) have been in this situation before. It's bad enough for the Canadiens that they're going home without a victory after the first two games of the Eastern Conference Finals. But it's unfathomable that they're going home without a goal. Considering how the Canadiens have fought back in each of the first two rounds of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, it would be foolish to count them out now. They went down 1-3 to Washington and fought back to win and they made history against Pittsburgh coming back from 0-3 to win . Goalie Jaroslav Halak has been shaky but a couple games on home ice should perk him up. Halak is 8-7 with a 2.66 GAA and a .924 SVPCT.
Point-Spreads.com 2010 Stanley Cup Odds & Predictions Update
The Bottom Line: I can see the Canadiens fighting back to make the final, but not win. It should go to the tough Flyers. Be sure to get your 2010 Stanley Cup Odds & Predictions in soon at BETUS.com and receive up to 145% in Cash Bonuses and start winning today!
