Without Pacioretty, restart opener tough for Knights
THE NHL is back, and the Golden Knights are the favorites to win the Stanley Cup in this unprecedented postseason.
But handicapper Dana Lane is betting against Vegas in its round-robin opener Monday against Dallas. The Stars are +115 underdogs to the Knights (-125), who might be without leading scorer Max Pacioretty, who didn’t travel with the team to Edmonton after suffering a minor injury in training camp.
“The Stars could catch the Knights napping with their focus on how to replace Pacioretty while trying to keep a harmonious relationship with the goaltender of the present, Marc-andre Fleury, and who could be the netminder of the future, Robin Lehner,” said Lane (@ Danalanesports). “There has been some head-scratching moves with goaltending coach Dave Prior being let go after general manager Kelly Mccrimmon stated that he was still part of the organization when, in fact, he hadn’t been for a few weeks.
“With Pacioretty out for this one, I don’t think they’ll be nearly as effective on the power play or five-on-five.”
The teams split two games at Dallas in the regular season, with the Stars winning 4-2 on Nov. 25 and the Knights winning 3-2 on Dec. 13.
With the NHL and NBA resuming their seasons after almost five months off, there are a bevy of betting opportunities this weekend. Lane, hockey handicapper Alex Smith and professional sports bettor and NBA specialist Erin Rynning shared their best bets:
NHL Panthers (-105) over Islanders, Saturday
Lane is banking on Florida to beat New York in the opener of its best-of-five Stanley Cup qualifier series.
“This is a rivalry that dates back to New York knocking Florida out of the postseason in 2016,” he said. “The Islanders have won all three meetings this season. But the offenses will have the advantage early on in the restart, and that certainly favors the Panthers, who ranked sixth in goals with 228 before the shutdown. Part of the reason was their power play was connecting at a clip over 21 percent.
“Florida has five players with 20 or more goals for a coach, Joel Quenneville, who has something to prove after failing to win a playoff series since 2015 after winning three Stanley Cups with the Blackhawks.”
Rangers (+120) over Hurricanes, Saturday
Smith (@axsmithsports) is backing another New York franchise in the opening postseason game at Toronto.
“This is one matchup where the location shouldn’t have too much of an effect on the series, mainly because the Rangers have dominated the Hurricanes no matter where they’ve played over the last several seasons,” Smith said. “New York has won five straight meetings and 12 of its last 15 showdowns versus Carolina.
“Now with a fully healthy lineup that includes forward Chris Kreider and the impressive play of rookie goaltender Igor Shestyorkin (10-2-0), I look for the Rangers to continue their winning ways against the Hurricanes.”
NBA Magic (-6½) over Nets, Friday
Brooklyn’s NBA title odds have fluctuated wildly this season. They dropped from 200-1 to 60-1 when play was suspended, and it appeared there was a chance stars Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant would return. But they’ve since soared to 1,000-1 after Durant and Irving were ruled out of the NBA restart near Orlando, Florida, and five other players opted out, including Spencer Dinwiddie (20.6 points per game) and Deandre Jordan.
Rynning (@ersports1) recommends a play on Orlando, which has its entire roster intact and can overtake the Nets for the seventh playoff seed in the East with a win.
“Two teams with similar records but heading in opposite directions,” he said. “The Nets will look nothing like the Kyrie Irving-led team from early season, and keep in mind they moved on from solid coach Kenny Atkinson in March.”
Raptors (+4½) over Lakers, Saturday
Rynning also is backing defending NBA champion Toronto (46-18), which will have its full roster healthy, including Marc Gasol, who missed 16 of the last 17 games with a hamstring injury.
“This will serve as the Raptors’ first game in the bubble. However, remember the Raptors were ahead of every other team in Orlando by two weeks,” Rynning said. “With standout coach Nick Nurse, the hard-trying Raptors will be geared up for this Lakers team with an eye toward the playoffs.
“The bench edge for the Raptors is staggering in this matchup.”
Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@ reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on Twitter.