Underdog Golden Knights Could Still Reward Their Faithful Followers

By on June 6, 2018

(Travis Failey Photo)

By winning their division and reaching the Stanley Cup finals, the Vegas Golden Knights have already done things no other expansion team has ever done. If they are going to write a storybook ending to their inaugural season, though, they will need to do something no other NHL team, expansion or otherwise, has done in nearly 80 years.

The Knights find themselves returning to Las Vegas in a 3-1 hole to the Washington Capitals, which is a deficit that no team has overcome in the finals since the ’42 Maple Leafs.

Thirty teams have had the chance since then, and thirty teams have failed.

But the Knights are no ordinary team. Just by reaching the finals, they overcame massive odds and started as a slight favorites entering the finals, but now they are a heavy underdog at every sportsbook. Just how heavy depends where you look, though, but before you place your money for game 5 in case you are thinking on getting the Knights, recognize the best options to place bets online as some sportsbooks have them at +500, while others have them at +550 and rising. (The Capitals, meanwhile, range from -650 to -900.) but there is still hope and their potential to overcome the odds again is buoyed greatly by the presence of Marc-Andre Fleury in net.

While he’s been lackluster against Washington, Fleury was sublime through the first three rounds, posting a .947 SV% and 1.68 GAA. And he did that against two of the top-three offenses in the Western Conference: Nashville and Winnipeg. Counting on any goalie to play that kind of hockey for a prolonged period of time is unreasonable, but stringing together three more magical games is absolutely within the realm of possibility.

Just look at what Fleury did against the Jets. After falling in a 1-0 series hole – and looking very mortal in a 4-2 Game 1 loss – Fleury bounced back by stopping 129 of 135 shots over the next four games as Vegas rattled off four straight wins.

The fact that two of the next three games will come at home adds to the plausibility of a comeback. Vegas was one of the best home teams during the regular season (29-10-2) and continued that strong play in the postseason, dropping just one game at T-Mobile Arena before the finals, and currently sporting a 7-2 record, overall.

If you still believe in the Cinderella story that is the Vegas Golden Knights and want to put your money where your heart is, you will be compensated handsomely for your faith. Not as handsomely as those who bet on the Knights at 500/1 at the start of the year, but handsomely nonetheless.

 

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