I have been very impressed with the Vancouver Canucks this postseason.
They are a fun and exciting hockey team that is learning how to win together. Armed with a young core of players that are anywhere from 20 to 24-years-old, they’re just finding their footing in the National Hockey League. Their time will come.
But I will gladly pick against them tonight.
The Vegas Golden Knights have dominated this playoff series. They’ve dictated the pace, taken away most of the open ice and outshot the baby Canucks in every single game. It’s honestly amazing that Vancouver is still alive.[[ad:athena]]
In fact, VGK outshot the Canucks 43-17 in the last game and played arguably their best 60 minutes of the entire series. Go figure, they lost 2-1, which forced a Game 6 tonight. At one point, Vegas was leading 25-7 in the shot department and the game was still tied 0-0.
You can’t even make that up.
Sometimes, puck luck can be everything in this sport. I saw it first hand for many years in Chicago when the Blackhawks would dominate a lesser opponent, but the series would still go six or seven games.
Of course, the better team usually comes out victorious and that’s what I expect to happen tonight. Vegas is the better team in every single facet of the game and they are long overdue for a barrage of shots to find the back of the Vancouver net. I will also gladly bet against Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko saving a miraculous 42 of 43 shots again.
Let’s do this... instead of laying a steep price with Vegas on the moneyline, let’s whack the price way down by playing them in regulation. That means they have to win the game by the end of the third period. If it goes to overtime, we lose no matter what. I feel a whole lot better about laying -140 than I do laying -240.
Play on the Golden Knights (-140) in regulation.
