This isn’t how things are supposed to happen for an expansion team. The Las Vegas Knights have been one of the best stories in sports over the last decade and now they’re co-favored to win the Stanley Cup. The team that didn’t even exist before this season has been incredible all season long and now the oddsmakers are taking them seriously.
Taking a look at the landscape in the playoffs, the Knights are the first team into the second round. They swept away the Los Angeles Kings in four straight games. By the way, a bet on the Knights to win that series would have paid 12/1 at BetDSI Sportsbook.
The Knights started the season at a whopping 200/1 but are now co-favorites along with the Nashville Predators at 4/1. The Predators lead their first-round series 2-1 but they haven’t even advanced to the second round; the Knights have.
The Knights were quite impressive in their first-round series, disposing of the Kings by winning four straight one-goal games. The Knights only allowed a total of three goals in the entire series, which is incredible. Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, who has plenty of playoff experience, has a sparkling .977 save percentage so far this postseason with a 0.65 goals-against average. It doesn’t get much better than that.
On the offensive end, the Knights didn’t score a lot in the opening round themselves – just seven goals in four games – but they have had plenty of balance. Seven different players scored those goals while 13 different players registered at least one point. They were quite balanced in the regular season too as they had seven different players notch at least 40 points with nine players scoring at least 10 goals.
Next up, the Knights will play the winner of the San Jose-Anaheim series, which the Sharks lead 3-0. The Knights won three of the four meetings with the Sharks this season.
