IBO Boxing Honesty and Integrity
The Beards are back in town – A few upsets have already provided us with some opportunity to throw a few dollars down at my favorite site, Betrivers.com
Washington beating Boston in game 1 gave us the chance to jump on the Bruins to win the series at +115 over at Betrivers.com We already had the Islanders at +450 to win the EAST so feeling pretty good about that.
In the West, despite Vegas outshooting Minnesota 20-5 in the first period, Minnesota won the game 1-0. Both goalies were fantastic, but I do think Vegas figures out Wild netminder, Cam Talbot before it’s too late and ultimately wins the series. Minnesota is a good hockey team, but when Vegas is rolling, they are far superior.
Their game 1 loss gives us an opportunity to grab them at +375 to win the WEST. Do I think they beat Colorado, probably not. Do I think it’ll be a really close series? Yes. At +375, there’s too much value to ignore. And remember, if Vegas does beat the Wild and ends up facing Colorado in the next round, we can always hedge and guarantee ourselves a nice profit.
I’m also betting on Vegas to win the Series vs Minnesota at -105
As for tonight’s games, there’s a couple of spots I like.
NY Islanders @ Pittsburgh Penguins Game 2
The Penguins threw everything they had at New York in game 1 and it still wasn’t enough. The Islanders dominated the 3rd period and OT and got the comeback win. Pittsburgh has to be in their heads now. This is five straight playoff losses to the Islanders and they’ve lost 10 of their last 11 playoff games overall. Malkin is still injured (I think) and Tristan Jarry is still not a particularly good goaltender.
Yet, despite all this, the Penguins are favored. I mentioned this at the beginning of the season and nothing has changed. When the Islanders are favored, do not bet on them. When they are dogs, they represent good value more often than not. Follow this rule and you’ll make a lot of money. The Islanders are a veteran team that won’t take their foot off the pedal despite being up by a game in the series.
The Pick: NY Islanders +120
Minnesota Wild @ Vegas Golden Knights Game 2
I mentioned my case for Vegas above. The Golden Knights have trouble scoring – we saw that in last year’s playoffs, but tonight it’s all about Vegas.
Minnesota is a young team and I suspect (in stark contrast to the Islanders), they are content winning one of the first two games on the road. Does that mean, they aren’t going to play hard tonight? Of course not. But, if they lose just a little bit of that edge, Vegas should roll.
And roll…
The Pick: Vegas Golden Knights -157
Lines provided courtesy of Betrivers.com
Follow David on Twitter @TuckonSports